Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Awareness
The Council on Substance Abuse along with Maggie Street Baptist Church are hoping to educate parents and caregivers about the mental illness and how substance abuse plays a big role in the disease.
Pearl partlow knows first-hand the effects of mental illness.
“I myself was a victim of not knowing and being educated about my own mental health. I had no idea that I even had mental health issues in my family,” says Partlow.
It’s just one reason why she and others are educating themselves with resources and getting their questions answered from speakers who deal with adults and children, battling mental illness.
“I hope that they understand that mental health is a multifactorial disease-that there are a lot of things that play into the fact of whether diseases manifest including genetics, adverse childhood experiences, neighborhood and event poverty,” says Pediatrician Albert Holloway.
While there are many factors surrounding mental illness. Coordinators want people to know that substance abuse is a growing problem linked to the mental illness, especially with the opioid epidemic that has killed thousands.
“Anything that’s opioid base can have specific side effects that can cause sleepiness, drowsiness,” says Kwatasian Hunt.
But is there still hope for people facing the disease silently? Coordinators say yes.
“With the healthcare the way it is, there is hope for individuals with mental illness,” says Hunt.
They say that requires more funding and more facilities in the state of Alabama.
“If we can get more facilities, more providers, to provide the treatment and the information that is despertately needed then I think we’ll be on that path of providing hope,” says Hunt.
“I hope that they can understand that just as they heart can have a disease, that the brain can be sick,” says Holloway.
If you would like more information on substance abuse prevention, recovery support services, you can visit www.cosancadd.org.
