Two local mental health providers talk with the EVV about mental health

Story by Elisabeth Sherwin and Patti Brown

Sarah Hills, a private practitioner, and MeeMee Lahman, a clinician at Salud Family Health, discuss the mental health issues they see in their practices

If you break your leg, you go to a doctor. But what if your problem is emotional, not physical? Hopefully, you will seek treatment for that issue, too.

Asking for help with emotional problems can be hard because of long-standing social, cultural, and personal beliefs about mental health and illness.

For some, asking for help is a sign of personal weakness. Talking about emotional issues is taboo in some cultures. Historically, the way people with mental illness have been treated – being restrained, lobotomized, institutionalized, and stripped of civil rights – has colored our understanding of mental illness.

The National Association for Mental Health, now Mental Health America, along with the U.S. Junior Chamber—the Jaycees—joined forces in 1949 to destigmatize mental illness and educate the public about mental health care. Since then, May has been observed as National Mental Health Month.

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