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What is mental health first aid and why is it necessary?
Logan County resident Steve Terrill explained Monday to Bellefontaine Rotarians the course he is offering in conjunction with other groups later this month and in January is similar to CPR training for the body.
The course will help people recognize mental health issues and get help for those at risk of suicide and other self-destructive behaviors, the retired farmer and corporate executive told attendees.
Some 25 percent of Americans suffer from some form of mental illness, Terrill noted, and with five suicides in the Indian Lake community recently there is an urgent need for such training locally.
A board member of the Mental Health, Drug & Alcohol Services Board of Logan and Champaign Counties and member of the Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors team, Terrill and his wife, Debbie, are familiar with the grief and loss that make access to quality mental health resources critical.
They are “Gold Star” parents to deceased U.S. Army Sgt. Kevin Lee Terrill.
Terrill said he hopes to ease the stigma attached to mental illness and to shift focus from more costly treatment and recovery efforts to education about substance abuse, anxiety, depression etc.
Read complete story in Tuesday’s Examiner.
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