River Edge Behavioral Health Center educates public on mental illness

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The first week in October is Mental Illness Awareness Week.

Health professionals say mental illness is a common medical condition that everyone needs to be aware of. mental illness affects the way a person thinks, their mood and behavior. Statistics show that one out of four experience mental illness in their lifetime. The quicker you get diagnosed and begin treatment, the less severe the mental illness becomes.

River Edge Behavioral Health Center has peer groups Monday through Friday to help individuals dealing with the illness. Those groups are instructed by Certified Peer Specialists, people who have experience dealing with the condition as well as gone through the proper training to help others recover.

“A certified peer specialist has been through taking medications, has been through seeing a doctor and not knowing what to ask or what to say,” Ashley Williams, Director of Outpatient Services at River Edge Behavioral Center says.

So these individuals are critical sources that people in classes can relate to and understand there’s a way to get through it. If the medical condition is not being treated, it can cause serious problems including jail time.

“Unfortunately, a lot of people end up involved in the justice system because that erratic behavior, that sleeplessness, that disconnect from the family and the community can look like being aggressive, can look like threatening behaviors, can look like someone who is trying to attack another person when really they’re trying to reach out and get help,” Williams explains.

One-half of chronic mental illness begins by the age of 14.