By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

It’s National Mental Illness Awareness week, a weeklong effort to decrease the stigma associated with mental illness and increase the number of people reaching out for help.

Ken Loos, manager of communications, prevention education and outreach at High Plains Mental Health Center, said mental health diseases are common.

“When we talk about mental health challenges, you’re looking at roughly one in four adults having a diagnosable mental illness every year and, when it come to children (18 years and younger), we think about one in five,” he said. “So there is a large number of individuals who quietly suffer from mental health problems.”

He said age 14 is usually the first time symptoms of a mental health condition begin to show.

Loos said the top three mental health challenges in the nation are depression, anxiety and substance abuse.

“Here at HPMH, in the 20 counties we serve, we see more depression more than we do anxiety and that is not uncommon in rural and frontier areas,” Loos said. “A lot of people just think this is the way it is, not realizing there is a big difference between feeling said and major depression.”

He stressed a sign of clinical depression is when feelings of sadness and worthlessness last more than two weeks.

Loos said people can become overwhelmed when looking for “symptoms” of mental health illness and advised one warning sign is that someone suddenly just doesn’t feel like themselves anymore and friends and family also pick up on the changes.

Whether it is feelings of anxiety, fear or depression, the bottom line is to talk to your doctor, a nurse practitioner, HPMH or someone from the faith community, he added, noting mental illness is both “real” and “treatable.”

“Not just with medication, there are therapies, as well,” Loos said. “You don’t want to suffer needlessly.”

He also offered advice for those suffering a mental illness and feeling judged by family members or society.

“I don’t think people are deliberately being mean or hurtful, but there is just a lot of misinformation and stigma out there,” Loos said.

“There is so much help available,” he added. “The first step is to talk about it, and I guarantee people feel better just to know they are not alone.”

HPMH  is based in Hays, 208 E. Seventh, and serves 20 counties in northwest Kansas. Call (785) 628-2871 for more information, or click HERE.

HPMH also provides a 24-hour emergency number, (800) 432-0333, toll-free anywhere in Kansas.