World Mental Health Day is October 10. Cynthia Thomasset, M.A., is a counselor at Berks Psychiatric's Reading office and offers her insights for awareness.
“Mental health is to the brain as physical health is to the body,” she says. “We work hard to take care of our physical health, to try to avoid sickness. We need to do the same for our mental and psychological health. If our mind is sick, it can be hard to function to our fullest potential. We need to recognize mental health as a physical health issue; it is all tied together.”
Fostering Awareness
“Although there is less of a stigma today to seek psychological help,” Thomasset explains, “we need to keep working hard to raise awareness so people are not ashamed to seek treatment from a psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist or counselor, social worker, addictions counselor, or a marriage and family counselor, etc. It is not a sign of weakness. If you have a toothache, you go to the dentist, a broken arm, you go to the ER. If you have a psychological issue, there are many avenues for help.”
Awareness is key.
“We all have moments of sadness, which can descend to depression and anxiety, enough that it can affect our ability to function,” she mentions. “A trained counselor can help with coping skills to get through these hard times.”
Depression
If you Google “everyone is de...” and stop typing, Google will finish the Internet query for you by offering “everyone is depressed” in its top possibilities of what you were likely starting to type, meaning this sentence is often searched.
“Depression has always been a very real condition,” Thomasset adds. “As we study things more, we know that there can be chemical imbalances in the brain which cause it, and there are also strong situational factors, too.”
“Depression is like a deep, dark, profound sadness, persisting to the point where it can overtake everything,” she says. “There are many degrees of this, but some features include loss of pleasure in things which used to make someone happy, and this affects how we feel, think and act. We need to pay attention to the people we love, ask how they are, offer to take them somewhere for help,” she advises. “You can go to the ER for help; they can do a psychiatric evaluation to see what may be a good course of treatment for someone.”
Balancing It Out
“Any pleasurable activity helps give our brain a break from 'monkey chatter,' the anxious thinking many people experience,” Thomasset says. “Knitting, crafts, being outside, time with our pet, doing art, cooking, coloring, taking a walk, listening to favorite music, meditating, praying, writing poetry, exercising — any healthy activity can help to reduce stress and psychological distress. Art is one tool I use, as well as writing stories with clients. All of this is what I call 'creativity and healing.'”
It's important to go to your primary care provider or the emergency room as a first step to getting help, she notes.
For those who cannot afford therapy or going to the doctor, Thomasset advocates applying for medical assistance to find the means to have better access to care.
One local group which fortunately does have free services is the Greater Reading Mental Health Alliance, grmha.org. Medical assistance can be applied for at welfareoffices.org/ci/pa-reading. And calling 211 from your phone will take you to the general information line for Human Services in Berks County.
Did you know?
According to the World Health Organization, 16.2 million adults in the U.S. have depression, equaling 6.7 percent of the population, but Thomasset believes the true numbers are higher.
Serve Access and Management, Inc.'s
Berks County Crisis Hotline: 1.877.236.4600
Or Text: ruOK to 484.816.ruOK
(National) Crisis Text Line
Text HOME to 741471
