WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Mental health is an ongoing topic across Central Georgia among law enforcement and in Georgia's general assembly --.so much so that the Houston County Health Department is offering free or low-cost mental health treatment for those 18 and up.
"I think we are still scared to have those conversations and I think we are still stigmatizing mental health as, 'You crazy,' and I think that’s the biggest issue we have," Mike Jones said.
Jones says he does his part to spread the word about mental health in his community and has even used services himself.
"It’s like a generational thing -- the older individuals I’ve talked to, they’re like, 'You just got to push through,' and I think they’ve been conditioned to see that because they’ve made it as far as they made it and it feels like they got through what they got through," he continued.
He says conversations with the younger generations are happening, but there’s still a problem.
"I don’t know if it’s starting fast enough because the increasing of suicides of Black children is rising," Jones said.
According to Mental Health America of Georgia, the state ranks 48th out of 50 for mental health care resources and insurance, but in Houston County, they’re hoping to provide resources people desperately need.
The Houston County Health Department has partnered with Houston Healthcare and Mercer University to offer free or low-cost mental health services.
"There's been mental health concerns in middle Georgia for quite a while and we want to make more readily available mental health care for people at a low cost," Gail Godwin explained.
Godwin, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner for the department, says they offer therapy, counseling, and can even prescribe medications.
"To my knowledge, this is the only one that exists in public health in the state of Georgia, and because of that, we're working hard within our 13-county district to be able to provide Gail's services," Chris Sikes, the county nurse manager said.
"The more we talk about it, the more it becomes less stigmatized and less taboo, and it’s like we can have more nuanced conversations and get even more complex with it,” Jones said.
The department has offered services since October of last year. They say for now, services are only for those 18 and up and hope to increase availability as more people sign up.
If you would like to take advantage of those services, call the Houston County Health Department at 478- 218-2000 and ask for mental health services.