KCRG reports from Dubuque, Iowa: A group that works with mental health is growing its services to cover more of Iowa’s rural areas.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness says that Americans who live in rural areas have a harder time getting mental health care because it is harder to get and costs more. In the same group, NAMI also finds that there are higher rates of anxiety, sadness, and other mental health problems.
Beginning this Saturday, NAMI Dubuque will hold events in Epworth for several months in order to close the gap in eastern Iowa.
Liz Marner from NAMI Dubuque said, “People want to talk about mental health, but they might not know how to start.”
When Barb and Mark Otting talk about mental illnesses and how they affect people in Iowa, they get very excited. When a family member was diagnosed with a mental illness almost 20 years ago, the couple joined a NAMI Dubuque support group.
“What was going on with our loved one was hard for us as parents and as a couple,” Barb Otting said. Second, we learned how to take care of ourselves. First, we learned how to talk to each other. We were able to work together honestly, which I think built trust.
The weekly talks helped the couple meet other people in the community who were going through the same problems.
He said, “I remember calling people in the group for help and support more than once, and they were always there for us.”
At NAMI Dubuque events, people talk about mental health problems, ways to deal with them, and the lesson that no one is alone.
Marner said, “The point of support groups is to make people more aware and get rid of the shame that it’s not okay to suffer in silence.”
On September 28, there will be a session to kick off the project. On October 21, there will be weekly evening support groups at Epworth City Hall.