Mental health knows no boundaries: It affects celebrities surrounded with wealth just as it affects the hourly worker.
May is national mental health awareness month. The National Alliance on Mental Illness is having a free, eight-session class built around educating family and friends of adults with mental health conditions.
The class starts Monday and will conclude on June 27.
“This class is probably the best-kept secret in this town,” said Kay Coward, a former nurse.
According to NAMI, one in four individuals will experience some kind of mental health problem each year. Those result in negative consequences if not addressed quickly and properly.
The NAMI family to family class is a designated evidence-based program that has been proven to significantly improve coping and problem-solving abilities of those who have taken it.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Americans struggled with mental health.
Where one may have the ability and funds to seek professional help, that isn’t always the case for a person working paycheck to paycheck. According to data from the American Psychological Association, 39% of Americans didn’t seek mental health treatment due to the cost associated with treatment.
NAMI provides its courses and materials for free.
Cost isn’t the only reason preventing someone from seeking help. Some individuals are reluctant to talk about mental health struggles.
“That’s one of the things we’re trying to break through is that stigma of shame that goes along with mental illness,” said Marylin Rowland, who is coordinating the class at NAMI Topeka. “It’s a lot better now than it used to be, but it’s still there.”
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In 2016, a survey found that all countries value people with mental health problems less than they do those without.
After almost 60 years of legislation, the system of mental health treatment needs to be rebuilt from basically the ground up.
“They closed all the state hospitals years and years ago,” Rowland said. “And that (treatment) was supposed to trickle down to the private sector — and it didn’t happen.”
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Act, which put the responsibility of care for mentally ill patients on the federal government. In 1980, Jimmy Carter signed the Mental Health Systems Act, which improved upon Kennedy’s original plan.
In 1981, however, President Ronald Reagan repealed Carter’s MHSA and effectively pushed responsibility for mental health back onto the states.
“There’s just a lack of services now,” Rowland said. “I mean, this is 2022 and we need more services.”
Coward, the former nurse, has attended two of the family to family courses offered by NAMI.
“Family to family is just a great educational resource for people that have adults in their family that have some sort of mental illness,” she said. “So, it’s a wonderful, wonderful organization.”
Coward says she attended one of the classes alone but encouraged her husband to go with her to another. The experience was overall positive for both of them.
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Coward’s adult son, Matt, has had physical and mental disabilities throughout his life. As an adult, he has found outlets in artistry and activism.
While Matt Coward didn’t attend the classes — they are designed around giving the family resources to help parents work with their adult children — he said the effects of the class are noticeable.
“I think we’re more open,” he said of his family. “I think we’re more patient with each other.”
Coward has been creating art for 30 years. In the past decade, he has discovered a passion for building things out of discarded materials. He recently made a camera out of wood, a ceiling fan and a car speaker.
Coward has found a positive coping method in his art. He said many people struggling with mental health problems struggle to take control back from an illness that can control them.
“Sometimes taking that control is tough,” he said.
Matt Coward serves on the board at Valeo. He represents consumers who experience mental illness, but he also represents those with physical disabilities.
However, not all of these disabilities are visible. Matt wore a shirt with a green ribbon that reads, “Some wounds are invisible.”
“That’s important because something I picked up this week is that it’s not always something that you see,” he said. “You’ve noted the signage. It’s a wheelchair. Well, that’s not everybody.”
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Coward cautioned people from assuming every disability would manifest itself in a plainly visible way.
The Topeka Police Department has a crisis response team that helps officers interact with people who experience mental health crises. Valeo has set up a mobile shower and laundry facility through the mobile access partnership.
But the most important thing the Coward family wants people to know is that you aren’t alone.
“Don’t feel like you have to do this alone,” Matt Coward said. “There’s places and there’s people that care.”
Those interested in attending can register by contacting Marilyn Rowland at 785-806-3049 or [email protected].
The class will be 6-8 p.m. at Countryside United Methodist Church, 3221 S.W. Burlingame Road.
Registration is open up to the third session.
Alex Edwards is the local politics reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached via email at [email protected], or via twitter @AMEdwards21.
