As a mental health crisis worsens across the country, the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office is trained to deal with these calls as they come in.
“You could get some type of call each and every day, which runs from somebody suffering from distress, somebody that is suffering from suicidal thoughts,” said Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding.
These days, calls to the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office for mental health reasons are a daily occurrence.
While the cause of that is open to interpretation, officers are equipped to deal with calls like this thanks to crisis intervention training. Even then, there is still a lot that needs to be done to help people that are struggling with these afflictions.
“If we place them into the Vanderburgh County Jail, we’re not helping them – just addressing the immediate cause to what they did…I know we need to pour an abundant sum of money in it to help the problem,”Wedding explained.
Easterseals Rehabilitation is one of many organizations in the Tri-State that offers a variety of services for mental health including outreach, support groups and education.
“We know that people are experiencing crisis and stress at such a high level right now when someone reaches out, it’s so important to know exactly where they can turn,” said Emily Reidford, VP of Community Outreach and Communication at Easterseals.
If you or someone in your life is struggling with mental illness it is important to know there are resources available throughout the community.
By helping to teach people about mental illness, these organizations hope to eliminate the stigma that often discourages people from getting the help they need.
“It’s so important for everybody, not just mental health providers, but everybody, to be able to reach out to someone and ask, ‘are you okay, what can I help you with?'”, added Reidford.
