Adanta reminds public that mental health help is available

In the moment and the aftermath of the most horrific tragedy involving innocent children and their teachers last week in Connecticut, my heart is saddened, as I am sure our community members’ hearts are. The Adanta Group Community Mental Health Center offers our deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims and the entire community of Newtown, Conn.

There will be many articles published and outcries from the public and those with family members who have mental illness to encourage legislators and people in power to pour additional funds into mental health systems in efforts to prevent tragedies such as this. Whether the additional funds appear or not, part of the “efforts to prevent” fall upon each of our shoulders, whether as an employee of The Adanta Group or as a community member.

I encourage each of you to reflect upon the influences you have each and every day on your family members, your co-workers and people in your community. Tragic events have an echoing effect on citizens far and wide. Many people may want to talk about their feelings and responses with loved ones and friends and some may want to seek help from mental health professionals.

If you see someone in need, encourage them to seek help and tell them how to get help. The assistance with how to get help is very important and key to producing a positive outcome for the person needing help. There are a variety of ways to get immediate assistance — mental health and suicide prevention phone hotlines and local community mental health agencies are a good place to start.

• If someone in the Lake Cumberland region of Taylor, Adair, Casey, Clinton, Cumberland, Green, McCreary, Pulaski, Russell or Wayne counties needs assistance dealing with a crisis or wants to talk about their own response to the tragedy, the agency has professional clinicians in outpatient clinics spread throughout the region — call (800) 954-4782 to make an appointment or call the local clinic in your county. Visit the website at www.adanta.org.

• If you or a loved one is experiencing a crisis — Adanta’s Crisis Line number — (800) 633-5599 — is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and will put you in touch with local resources.

• The Disaster Distress Helpline — (800) 985-5990 — is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to provide crisis counseling for those who are in emotional distress related to any natural or human-caused disaster. Visit the website at www.disasterdistress.samhsa.gov.

• The Suicide Prevention Hotline — (800) 273-8255 — is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Visit the website at www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

• Text “talkwithus” (English) or “hablamos” (Spanish) to 66746 at any time.

We must come together as a nation to support one another. Together, we must seek and implement solutions to prevent such horrors in our future. We must work together with our legislators and policymakers and with other mental health organizations across our nation to effectively address mental health issues.

Jamie S. Burton
Chief Executive Officer
The Adanta Group
Somerset