The Mental Health Drug and Alcohol Services of Logan and Champaign Counties is sharing personal stories of local residents persevering and overcoming mental health challenges through their Look Up, Get Up, and Never Give Up! campaign, which emphasizes the hope and myraid of possibilities when individuals seek help and treatment.
The campaign and MHDAS staff are encouraging people struggling with their own mental health or friends or family members of someone who is having a difficult time to download the free Get Help Now app, which just in recent months has been localized with services available in Logan and Champaign counties through the receipt of grant funding. 
The app and the MHDAS website, www.mhdas.org, have a number of different screening tools available that an individual can take on an anonymous basis to determine how they’re faring. Parents also can check in on “how their teen or child is doing,” explained Cecilia Yelton, MHDAS director of community and school-based prevention.
Yelton related that mental health issues affect many more people than one might think, with one in five adults experiencing mental illness in the U.S., and 1 in 20 U.S. adults experiencing a serious mental illness. In addition, about 17 percent of youths ages 6 through 17 experience a mental health disorder, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, www.nami.org.
For the number of people who find themselves experiencing a mental health issue, “it doesn’t mean that you’re broken or that you’ve done something wrong or that it’s your fault,” Yelton said.
“Research tells us that genetics play a factor in mental illness, along with many other factors, from having a stressful job to traumatic life events or losing someone you care about. The stress of COVID on our daily lives and the upheaval and changes it caused also has brought on mental health issues for many individuals.”
The Get Help Now app can direct participants to immediate help through the local warm peer line operated by the Recovery Zone of Logan County at (937) 210-9003, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The local crisis hotline also is available at (800) 224-0422 or (937) 376-8701, or the crisis text line can be reached by texting “4HOPE” to 741-741.
Additionally, the app provides a convenient way to connect with mental health service providers for treatment through phone and map links.
In the MHDAS Look Up, Get Up, and Never Give Up! campaign, area individuals share how they have found recovery possible and freeing through locally available treatment.
Yelton said one Logan County individual, now in his mid-20s, struggled with substance abuse since he was a teenager. However, by working in his recovery through community support systems, he has re-bonded with his family and has restored relationships that previously were damaged during his struggles with addiction.
The young man is now is giving back by serving as a peer supporter to uplift others along a similar journey that he has experienced first-hand.
Another young adult Logan County resident who is now in her late 20s previously struggled with alcohol addiction that also affected her family life.
By dedicating herself to counseling and peer support during the last three years and living in recovery housing for a time, she is now in the process of purchasing her first home and is also working to get her son back, Yelton noted.
While dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic herself, the MHDAS director of community and school-based prevention said she also found herself also experiencing anxiety and stress that was beginning to take a toll on her health.
“I had to take some steps back to see how I was fueling my body,” she said. “COVID is impacting a lot of us, and the inconsistent environment has been so difficult to deal with.”
A video campaign produced by TrueChat.org with local resident stories also is being featured this month via the MHDAS’ Facebook page.
Locally, the MHDAS Board also makes a concerted effort to reach out to area youths, 50 percent of all mental illness begins by age 14, and 75 percent of all mental illness begins by age 24, Yelton related.
Each school year, the agency conducts Search Institute Attitudes and Behaviors Survey of Logan County students in eighth-grade, 10th-grade and 12th-grade. From the 2019 survey, 26 percent of survey respondents reported symptoms of depression in the past 30 days, and 21 percent reported a suicide attempt during their lifetime.
A recent Signs of Suicide screening of Logan County students also saw an increase in young people with suicide ideation, and a small increase in young people reporting alcohol use in the last year, said Yelton, who also serves as the chair for the Suicide Prevention Coalition for Logan and Champaign Counties. There is a referral process for the students that takes place following the surveys.
Yelton also noted the importance of mental health awareness and treatment toward trying to reverse a current NAMI statistic. On average, NAMI reports that there is a delay of 11 years between the onset of symptoms of mental illness and treatment.
Mental health warning signs and symptoms can include:
• Feeling very sad or withdrawn for more than two weeks;
• Trying to harm or end ones life or making plans to do so;
• Severe, out-of-control, risk-taking behavior that causes harm to self or others;
• Sudden overwhelming fear for no reason, sometimes with a racing heart, physical discomfort, or difficulty breathing;
• Significant weight loss or gain;
• Seeing, hearing, or believing things that aren’t real;
• Excessive use of alcohol or drugs;
• Drastic changes in mood, behavior, personality or sleeping habits;
• Extreme difficulty concentrating in or staying still; and
• Intense worries or fears that get in the way of daily activities.
The MHDAS staff member said if you’re worried about yourself or someone you care about, it’s important to ask questions.
“Asking questions will not put ideas into someone’s head. Instead, they could spark lifesaving conversations that will lead to taking steps to receiving help.
“Try to understand what they’re experiencing and how their daily life is impacted. Making this connection is often the first step into getting treatment.”
Treatment opened up a whole new world of possibilities for individuals featured in the Look Up, Get Up, and Never Give Up! video released this week on the MHDAS Facebook page.
“For me, it was finding what I was really supposed to be doing my whole life,” one of the participants said.
Trainings available from the MHDAS Board of Logan and Champaign County include:
• QPR — This is a universal, evidence-based prevention training which enables participants to identify people whom may be at risk of depression or suicidal thoughts, provide an appropriate initial response to those identified, assist them on how to get help, and serve as a gatekeeper in the community. Participants learn the QPR technique (Question, Persuade, Refer) to identify risk and encourage help-seeking behaviors and life-saving measures.
• Mental Health First Aid — This program is an eight-hour certification course that trains individuals how to help someone encountering a mental challenge or crisis, including depression, anxiety, psychosis, and substance abuse/addictions. It teaches a five- step action plan to offer initial help to people exhibiting signs and/or symptoms of a mental illness and how to find help. This course is eligible to all adults (age 16+) via two curricula: Adult MHFA and Youth MHFA.
• Working Minds —The two-hour Working Minds Training gives participants the tools and skills to appreciate the critical need for suicide prevention while creating a forum for dialogue and critical thinking about workplace mental health challenges. The program builds a business case for suicide prevention while promoting help-seeking and help-giving.
For more information, contact Cecilia Yelton via e-mail at [email protected] or by calling (937) 465-1045 ext. 0124.