PARIS, Arkansas — Community members in Paris are calling for more education and more resources to help with mental health issues in the county.
On Tuesday night, Harbor House Prevention Programs, which is an organization based on education and community collaboration across six counties, hosted a panel discussion called Breaking Barriers. They invited experts on mental health to come together to answer questions on resources in the area.
"We have been told of just there's been more suicidal ideations than normal, not necessarily that that has been acted upon, but just kind of that they're seeing it more than usual," Jayden McGrew, Prevention Coordinator for Harbor House Prevention Programs, said. "We had some citizens from Logan County who just wanted to figure out that if there's a way that we could all come together and collaborate on how to kind of bridge the gap between mental health and substance use, and kind of look at all the different resources that we have that maybe not everybody knows about."
Harbor House serves Logan County, but they don't have a physical presence in Paris. McGrew emphasized how education is important.
"They just say that it is no resources. We don't have anything here. There's no help, and a lot of times it's just because they don't know that it's there," McGrew said. "It's really important to let people know that there are ways to get help that don't involve having to drive to the bigger cities."
The panel consisted of employees from Harbor House, healthcare workers, and police. They had a conversation on what they see in their careers when it comes to mental health and suicide and the resources, they recommend people to turn to. They emphasized a need for more direct resources is present.
"Thoughts of suicide are way more common than we know about because there's such a stigma. We have the stigma of substance use disorder and addiction and mental health. But I feel like suicide is an even stronger stigma because there's a lot of fear in it," said Angela Campagna, Clinical and Operational Director for Harbor House. "I think we need to educate more about that that provides safe spaces for people to talk about what they're truly feeling and their thoughts."
The panel emphasized how important it is to have available avenues in smaller areas, as the issues still exist.
"Especially in the rural communities, because both substance abuse and mental health are rampant, and the two go together so much oftentimes," said Carl Norris, CEO of Harbor House. "Reaching out into these areas that may not be served by a large company or someone specific in that area gives us the opportunity to just touch base with people make sure they know what resources are available in Fort Smith or in Russellville, or at least close enough to drive."
"I think, a little bit harder when you are sometimes in the same place, and everybody knows everybody. Everybody knows all your business. So I think it's harder to sometimes open up on that next level. But I think it's just as important here as anywhere else, if not even maybe more," Campagna added.
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