By Shirley Hawkins
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — The Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Conference will be held at 11 a.m. July 27 at Crenshaw United Methodist Church, 3740 Don Felipe Drive.
The conference is being held as part of Mental Awareness Month in July and is named in memory of Bebe Moore Campbell, an author who co-founded the Urban Los Angeles chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in 2005, a year before her death.
Campbell’s mission was to eliminate the stigma associated with mental illness in the Black community and to enhance public awareness of mental illness among underserved communities.
The conference will feature panel discussions, cultural performances, giveaways and more including flyers and resources distributed by the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and the Peer Research Center.
Adrienne Bausley, special events and outreach manager for the urban Los Angeles branch of the National Minority Health Alliance, said that statistics on mental health diagnosis were on the rise before 2020. However, COVID put a magnifying glass on it.
“Stress management is an important tool to manage mental and emotional health,” Beasley said.
Harold Turner, executive director of NAMI Urban Los Angeles, said families with loved ones who are struggling with mental illness can seek support and assistance through NAMI.
“There is a lack of access to mental health services in the Black community and we are woefully underserved,” he said. “But NAMI provides support and advocacy for families and individuals by connecting them to mental health services.”
Turner said there is an eight-week family support course called Family to Family that is available virtually or in person for families and individuals seeking help for loved ones who are mentally ill.
Some of the symptoms of mental illness include confused thinking or problems concentrating and learning; extreme mood changes, including uncontrollable “highs” or feelings of euphoria; prolonged or strong feelings of irritability or anger; excessive worrying or fear; feeling excessively sad or low; difficulty perceiving reality (delusions or hallucinations, in which a person experiences and senses things that don’t exist in objective reality); inability to perceive changes in one’s own feelings, behavior or personality (”lack of insight” or anosognosia); overuse of substances like alcohol or drugs; avoiding friends and social activities; inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily problems and stress; and thinking about suicide.
According to NAMI, Black children and teenagers over the past generation have experienced climbing rates of suicide. In young Black boys, ages 12 and under, the suicide rate increased nearly 80% between 1999 and 2014.
“Treatments for mental illness vary by diagnosis and by person,” Turner said. “There’s no one size fits all treatment.
“Treatment options can include medication, counseling, social support and education.”
Turner added that being mentally ill is not a crime so police cannot detain someone who is mentally ill unless they are a danger to themselves or others.
“If they have medical insurance or coverage, you can recommend for them to be evaluated,” he said.
After diagnosis, a health care provider can help develop a treatment plan that could include medication, therapy or other lifestyle changes.
To register for the event, access bit.ly/BebeMoore2024.
Information: 323-294-7814.
Shirley Hawkins is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers. She can be reached at metropressnews@gmail.com.
