Linn County Public Health held a Make it Okay forum at Southeast Linn Community Center Tuesday, Aug. 8.
The Make it Okay campaign is one of the areas addressed in the Healthiest State Initiative continuing in Iowa, with the goal of reducing the stigma of mental health illness and encouraging people to get proper care.
“Everyone has a level of mental health,” said Jackie Montoya, one of the presenters. “Many of us also have mental illness or know people who do.”
The goal is to draw more attention to the stigma associated with mental illnesses and create a more caring community when it comes to discussing those illnesses.
Montoya said that while mental illnesses are common, seeking treatment allows people to easily live with them.
“Stigma on mental illnesses impacts everyone,” Montoya said. “It creates shame and makes people to have reluctance to seek treatment.”
Mental illness impacts vulnerable communities and people of color.
One of the key messages that Linn county Public Health was trying to get across – It is never too late to ask for help when dealing with mental illness.
“Sometimes it takes time to realize there is a mental illness that is impacting you,” Montoya said.
The Make it Okay campaign started in Minnesota in 2012 and was adopted by Iowa in 2019, just ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anne Carter with Linn County Public Health noted she had undiagnosed bipolar disorder for a number of years. She has now been living with the condition and medical treatment for the past 15 years, but it took her time to overcome the stigma and negative perception of seeking help.
“That negative perception causes someone to devalue or think less of themselves as a person,” Carter said.
Carter asked peope to come up with words that pertain to someone dealing with a cancer diagnosis. Words like fighter, survivor, brave came from the audience.
Then, she asked for words that come up when we hear someone is fighting mental illness. Crazy, dangerous, weak, unstable came up.
“There’s no difference between someone seeking treatment for mental health or an illness like cancer,” Carter said. “Both impact people’s quality of life if untreated.”
Mental illnesses can impact anyone and Carter said celebrities talking about their own mental health issues is starting to change the perception in the public.
Dealing with mental illness can include shame/isolation, avoiding treatment, discrimination.
Montoya said that roughly 4 in 10 people have admitted to experiencing mental illness, including depression and anxiety following the COVID-19 pandemic. By comparison, 1 in 10 people have diabetes.
Treating mental illness requires relying on a support network, potentially getting therapy, potentially using medications and self care.
For people talking with someone with a mental illness the importance is not ignoring them. Keep in contact, offer to help them, keep conversations moving. If they are dealing with a mental break or need help you can not provide, encourage them to call 988 to get appropriate help.
Lines suggested when someone talks about their mental health illnesses include: thanks for opening up to me, do you want to talk about it, how can I be there for you, you don’t have to go through this alone, how are you feeling, can I drive you to an appointment, are you getting the care and support you need?
There are also centers in Cedar Rapids that can help get people treatment when they’re in Linn County. The Linn County Health Access Center at 501 13th St. N.W. is one of those. Again, the 988 mental health line for callers in Linn County is manned by workers from Foundation2 and can get people the help they need for dealing with the mental health crisis they are encountering.