World Mental Health Day 2023: Breaking the stigma
SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- Tuesday, Oct. 10 is World Mental Health Day.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than one in five adults live with a mental illness, but only about half of those people ever receive treatment.
Local providers want to reach those people and are using World Mental Health Day to spread awareness and work to break the stigma that stops so many from seeking care.
That said, the conversation continues to change, as centers like Oaklawn see a growing demand for services.
“I absolutely think it’s a net positive that people are talking about mental health as they’ve never talked about it before,” said Bonita Schrock, chief clinical officer at Oaklawn. “People are sharing their own stories about mental health in ways that they would have been afraid to do in the past because of stigma because they felt more vulnerable doing that.”
Tabitha Pollard, a nurse practitioner at Saint Joseph Behavioral Health, said she works to normalize the conversation.
“I think we’re trying to break the stigma and make it more equal to that of physical health,” Pollard said. “I love to see that, as a mental health advocate, that we are trying to break down the barriers and have people feel just as comfortable as when they seek out treatment for, let’s say, strep throat or an injured ankle.”
And those at Oaklawn agree.
“This is a normal part of our life, we have physical health, we have mental health. We have to pay attention to both of those and they’re both linked together,” Schrock said.
Nationally, the 988 emergency line gives the public a free, 24-hour hotline for mental health emergencies and suicidal ideation.
“We expect that to continue to grow and to continue to have linkages to centers like ours,” Schrock said.
Locally, centers like Oaklawn continue to expand their footprint. The mental health and substance abuse center, serving both St. Joseph and Elkhart counties, switched to an open
“As a result of that, we have now seen about 50% more people this year than we saw last year, before we had open access,” Schrock said. “It says that there was pent-up demand in the community, and in order to meet that demand, we had to change some models of how we provide services as well.”
But as demand grows, stigma persists, as explained by family nurse practitioner at Saint Joseph Behavioral Health, Shauntel Marcin.
“I think a common misconception or myth is that you’re either mentally healthy or mentally ill,” Marcin said. “But the reality of that is, mental health is kind of a continuum. Just because you have mental health illness does not define the ability the ability to live a functional and happy and full life.”
Help is out there and experts like Marcin say it’s okay to not be okay.
“And we can see some empowerment in those who feel that they can’t get any better, or things aren’t going to get any better,” she said. “It kind of gives hope to those people that are struggling.”
For more information on mental health resources available in Michiana, visit our World Mental Health Day resources.
Oaklawn’s 24-crisis center in South Bend, located at 420 N. Niles Ave, is set to open by the end of the year. Schrock said a 24-hour crisis center is also coming to Elkhart County and will share a building with the Goshen facility. Construction should be starting soon, and that center is set to open by the Spring.
And for mobile crisis response, St. Joseph County’s teams are currently operating 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Schrock said they are hoping to be 24-hour by the end of the year. And in Elkhart County, teams are gearing up to begin deployments in the community as needed.