BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (WTVG) – According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, 8 out of 10 workers say shame and stigma have prevented them from seeking treatment for a mental health condition.
Officials at NAMI of Wood County are hitting the road, trying to lower that stat with new programing.
“‘Stigmafree’ Company is a national campaign, through NAMI national, and really the biggest goal of it is to work with different agencies, organizations, businesses, to help incorporate more mental health resources and kind of embed it into the cultures,” Courtney Rice said.
Rice, with NAMI of Wood County, is hoping that new culture will stick in Wood County.
“A lot of times employees feel apprehensive to bring up their mental health within the workplace, there’s a lot of stigmas that’s attached to mental health, and people feel apprehensive in talking about that, especially with their employers,” Rice said.
NAMI of Wood County reached out to the Perrysburg Township fire department to offer help with first responders.
“You know when I started in the fire service it was really the suck it up buttercup mentality, and it was a sign of weakness if you exhibited any signs of stress from the job,” Tom Brice, fire chief with Perrysburg Township fire department said.
Brice gave kudos to the agency for reaching out like they did.
“Old adage you should never judge somebody until you’ve walked in their shoes, probably really holds true in that a lot of us have problems that others aren’t aware of,” Brice said. “NAMI’s trying to bring that to the forefront, kudos to them, that’s something we really need to work on.”
Amanda Like, manager of community education at NAMI explains how the programing works.
“Education for employers, on warning signs and symptoms of mental health condition, how to approach employees, maybe working on policies, really whatever they need,” Like said.
If your business would like to take part in the programming, you can click this link.
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