Observing Mental Health Awareness Month
in Logan County
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[May 22, 2023]
May
is Mental Health Awareness Month, created to educate the public and
provide support to people with mental illness and their loved ones.
Mental health was identified as a top health concern for Logan County
residents in the 2021 Community Health Needs Assessment. According to
the Illinois Youth Survey:
**42% of eighth-graders, 45% of tenth-graders and 52% of 12th-graders in
Logan County felt so sad or hopeless for two weeks or more that they
stopped doing some usual activities.
**22% of tenth-graders and 27% of 12th-graders in Logan County have
seriously considered attempting suicide.
Mental health is a concern for adults in Logan County as well. According
to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 15% of the Medicare
population in Logan County has been diagnosed with depression (includes
people 65 or older, as well as those under 65 with certain disabilities
or end-stage renal disease).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reports that in 2020, 12.8% of adults in Logan County stated that
their mental health was not good 14 or more days in the past month.
The age-adjusted death rate due to suicide in Logan County is 20.8
deaths per 100,000 population, which is higher than the national
average.
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“These statistics show how essential mental health
services are in Logan County and across central Illinois,” said
Diana Knaebe, president of Memorial Behavioral Health. “Treatment
can be life-changing. If you are struggling with your mental health,
please reach out for help.”
One way to obtain help is to call the 988 Suicide and Crisis
Lifeline, which is available 24/7, including holidays, for people
experiencing a mental health crisis. (The line is answered by crisis
counselors from Memorial Behavioral Health from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.,
Monday through Friday.) Veterans who call 988 will be connected with
a crisis counselor who is also a veteran. The 988 hotline provides
live crisis center calling services in English and Spanish and uses
Language Line Solutions to provide translation services in more than
250 additional languages.
[Anne Davis]
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