“Mental Illness is difficult enough to deal with,” Mark Hensley, Clinical Director of the Behavioral Health Centers of Southern Iowa (BHCSI), an affiliate of the Community Health Centers of Southern Iowa (CHCSI), said. “Even worse is the stigma that people with mental conditions have to combat unlike those who have heart conditions, diabetes, or cancer,” he added.
Hensley encourages everyone to watch or tape the WOI – Des Moines (ABC) broadcast of Shadow Voices: Finding Hope in Mental Illness January 1 at 4:00 p.m. to better understand this problem.
Five to seven percent of adults have a serious mental illness. Approximately 35 percent of all persons will experience a diagnosed brain disorder sometime during their life. Mental illnesses cause the most disability among all illnesses in the U.S., Canada and Western Europe,” Hensley emphasized.
To better understand this problem, Hensley will lead a discussion group on the subject of mental illness January 10, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. at the Community Health Centers of Southern Iowa in Leon (302 NE 14 th Street) and January 12, 2006 in Lamoni (911 E. Main Street). This discussion kicks off the Health Centers health education series: Health Connections which focuses on important health topics on the second Tuesday and Thursday at the Health Centers sites each month.
He will discuss everyday issues that face people like the child or adolescent having trouble getting along at home, in school or in the community or the adult who is unable to function well at home, on the job, with his social life, or who feels constantly overwhelmed by the pressures and strains of trying to cope with daily life as well as those who suffer from serious mental illness problems.
Last year, the Behavioral Health Centers of Southern Iowa had nearly 3,500 visits which included individuals, couples, families, and groups. Appointments can be made by calling the Community Health Centers of Southern Iowa at 641.784.7911 in Lamoni or in Leon at 641.446.2383.