Letters to the Editor

Mental Health Clinic of Tama County recognized that October is Mental Health Awareness month. Did you know that one in four people will experience a mental health disorder of some kind? That means most likely you or someone you are close to is going to have mental health issues at some point in your life.

That is too high of a probability to be caught unaware. Surely you’ve heard or read about intimidating diagnoses such as Schizophrenia, BiPolar disorder or Major Depression but how much do you really know about them? Major Depression is characterized by extreme feelings of sadness and hopelessness, a loss of normally enjoyable activities, low energy and motivation, difficulty sleeping / eating, restlessness or irritability and isolation.

Mental Health Clinic of Tama County is a non-profit agency which has been in Tama County for 29 years. They offer a variety of mental health services including Psychiatric, therapy, community support, case management and dual diagnosis group.

Mental Health Clinic of Tama County is a recipient of United Fund and also receives some financial support from the County. Services are often billed to Medicaid, Medicare or private insurance, or payment can be arranged through the Tama County Central Point of Coordination for those who lack insurance.

NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) recently held their annual NAMIWalks for the Mind of America event. The event consisted of a 5K walk held at WaterWorks Park in Des Moines on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009. The walk itself is held yearly (always on the first Saturday in October) and is aimed at two things: Raising awareness and raising financial support for NAMI programming.

A team of walkers from Tama joined in on the 5K NAMI walk. A total of 15 walkers representing Tama walked on the “Walking TaCos” (Walking Tama County Services) team. Walking TaCos exceeded their fundraising goal and raised $995 for mental health programming through NAMI-Iowa.

The public is invited to join staff and board of directors of Mental Health Clinic of Tama County on Nov. 12 for an annual meeting to be held at the Tama Civic Center.

The evenings activities will begin at 6:30 p.m. with hors d’houvres and at 7 p.m., a speaker will present practical information about the mental health commitment process in Tama County.

In this decade we have a better understanding of breast cancer, diabetes and heart disease than ever before. It is time we improve our understanding of mental health issues as well. One step in the journey toward awareness is to understand that the stigma associated with serious mental illness is creating a barrier for many to seek the help they need.

Knowing that mental illness is not so uncommon and that there are treatments available is another step in the journey toward erasing stigma. When that one in four persons begins to show symptoms of Major Depression or some other illness, you can help and know where to turn for support, remember the saying from NAMI, “if it is to be, it is up to me”.

Alyson Hicks

Toledo