Panel tackles WNC mental health concerns
Franklin Press, The (NC)May 27, 2016
"This event is really a first,"
Representatives from six organizations appeared on the panel, organized by the Jackson County library after a survey of library users showed that discussion of mental illness was one of their top priorities. Organizations participating included the
Each mentioned different logistical tactics that they had found helpful in treating patients in a region that is typically rural and frequently economically disadvantaged with communities isolated by the rugged terrain and lack of roads, along with a general shortage of licensed mental-health practitioners.
"We've been using telepsychiatry," said
"They're called
Panelists agreed that their most important role is to be available when someone is in a crisis.
"And crisis is defined by the person," Brafford said, "not by some definition in a book."
Depending on the nature of a patient's mental illness, crises could be spurred by many things - a missing dog, an event that triggers a painful memory, a family conflict. And they can happen at any time.
That's one of the reasons that many organizations, including Smoky Mountain, have an emergency phone line that's available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
"It can connect you to the right organization, (which) will support you at the moment that you need help," Glance said.
Brafford added that around-the-clock availability of care becomes especially important for treating people with mental illness.
In addition to being available in acute times of need, centers often need to deal with the reality that patients can find it difficult to ask for help when they're already feeling overwhelmed.
"We've had much more success with a walk-in model than scheduling regular appointments," Brafford said, "(because) then we're there when someone is actually feeling up to (talking)."
The stigma surrounding mental illness often discourages patients from seeking help, according to Glance.
"But every one of you sitting here has the ability to work on that stigma and to quit making it such a big deal to walk through that door," Glance said. "If (someone) had cancer, people would be pushing him to the door to get the help that he needed."
As a follow-up to the