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NAMI Albany will walk to overcome stigma of mental illness

Albany Herald - 10/5/2020

Oct. 5--ALBANY -- Local National Alliance on Mental Illness volunteers are walking to raise awareness and money to assist Dougherty County residents dealing with mental health issues.

NAMI teams held one event on Oct. 3 and will hold a larger walk on Saturday.

The local chapter provides discussion sessions twice each month for individuals experiencing mental health issues and two a month for their families and one session each month for survivors dealing with the suicide death of a loved one. Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the sessions have been conducted online.

At least half of the money raised will remain in the community, while some of the funds will be sent to the state office to help provide training for local NAMI affiliates, Albany NAMI volunteer Debra Richardson, who received training through the organization in crisis intervention for young people and suicide prevention, said.

"They do a lot of awareness programs throughout the community," Richardson said. "We want to encourage people to talk about their feelings and participate if they are feeling unwell (and) to tell someone. We want to encourage people to get help in the community through various programs. We do have a lot of good mental health programs in our community."

While it is estimated that some 25 percent of Americans will experience a diagnosable mental illness during his or her lifetime, national figures show that some 40 percent of people may be affected during the pandemic with issues including anxiety and depression, Richardson said.

"Because we've had so many deaths and the people who have been hit the hardest -- we had so many deaths and so all of those families have been affected," she said. "Those affected the most by COVID are those with the greatest loss, those who have lost family members, those who have lost jobs, those who are affected financially."

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Children also feel the impact of the pandemic, she said.

Students in the Dougherty County School System were sent home in mid-March due to the high rate of novel coronavirus cases in the county. Some elementary and middle school students have returned to on-campus instruction, but middle and high school students are still receiving virtual instruction at home.

"I am very concerned with our youths," Richardson said. "Our youths have been through, not only now (with what) they went through with COVID going on, they've been through the tornadoes, the hurricanes. They've been through so many disruptions in their lives."

Various Dougherty County teams will participate in the Saturday walk to raise money. Team members have set goals for fundraising, and the three Episcopal churches in the community each has pledged $1,000 donations.

The walk starts at 10 a.m. at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 212 N. Jefferson St., and will take a course to the Flint riverfront before returning to the church. State. Rep. CaMia Hopson, D-Albany, will give brief remarks.

"We're really going to be social distancing," Richardson said. "Please wear masks and be aware and supportive and understanding of mental health. We're trying to reverse the stigma because we know, with COVID-19, the need is even greater."

Individuals and families can seek assistance at The NAMI HelpLine at 1 (800) 950-6264, the Georgia Crisis and Access Line at 1 (800) 715-4225, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1 (800) 273-8255 and NAMI Albany at (229) 329-1444.

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