Don’t Wait, Connect To Mental Health Help

 by CINDY LEDBETTER

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and more Americans than ever before are recognizing the importance of improving their mental and emotional wellbeing. There’s also an increasing demand for mental health resources, and I’m committed to making it easier for Hoosiers to connect to the care they need.

The American Psychological Association reports a sharp increase in referrals for treatment in the last few years, with 72% reporting an increase since 2020 and more than 70% of psychologists reporting longer waitlists for care.

When mental health professionals are booked far in advance, it can be difficult for Hoosiers to find nearby appointments to fit their schedules. Some face obstacles taking off work and driving long distances – especially in rural areas – in order to make an appointment. This could lead someone in need to abandon seeking help or waiting too long between visits.

In Indiana, we continue to recognize this tremendous need and we’re taking action to help struggling Hoosiers. I recently supported new laws expanding access to telehealth, which are online virtual doctor visits, to ensure Hoosiers have more convenient, high-quality options for care.

To find a local mental health provider, visit in.gov/fssa/dmha. Many of the providers have telehealth options when you schedule an appointment. Mental health professionals who would like to offer telehealth services can visit in.gov/pla/professions/telemedicine to review the requirements and fill out an application.

If you need immediate help, Indiana’s Be Well Crisis Helpline is a free and confidential resource to connect with trained counselors by calling 211 or visiting BeWellIndiana.com. I also supported a recentlaw to establish a 988 hotline, which will be able to deploy mental health services in an emergency, and it’s expected to launch later this year.

Help is out there, whether it’s in-person, virtual or by phone. Never hesitate to reach out for help and if you need assistance navigating these services, please contact me at h75@iga.in.gov or 317-232-9769. As someone who lost a brother to mental illness, I know firsthand how important it is to connect to help. Let’s continue to work together to promote mental health awareness, support wellness in our lives and celebrate recovery.

CHANGES

GAVEL GAMUT By Jim Redwine

They tore down my grade school and built a church. It is a nice church that regularly fills up with nice people, some of whom I do not know and some I do. In fact, some of the church members whom I do know I first met in the first grade in our old sandstone elementary school that is now their church. I expect almost every time one of those old classmates pulls up to their new church, they get a nostalgic image of our old school. I know that every time Peg and I happen to drive by the fine new brick church with its lovely green lawn and flowering shrubs, images of a sward of almost non-existent short grass interspersed with small pebbles and an occasional anthill fiercely guarded by large biting red ants come wafting through my contemporary thoughts.

The large two-story sandstone building with a bell tower on top and a basement below was one of the first truly substantial buildings in my hometown and had once, or so I was told by my Osage Indian Sunday School teacher, Violet Willis, served as a school for other Osage girls. Miss Violet and my family attended another church that has now been abandoned with some of its congregation now joining with that of the new one that replaced both my old school and my old church. The new church thoughtfully preserved the large stain glass window from my old church that was the sanctuary’s focal point. The stain glass scene was of a beautiful stream that gave worshipers an impression the water was flowing right into the baptismal vault where I and my sister and two brothers were baptized. That old sanctuary was also where we four siblings all sang in the choir and where our Father and Mother both served as elders and were honored during both of their funerals.

The new church that replaced my old school and my old church also replaced that congregation’s original church building that had been located about one block from my old church. That old church served its congregation well for many years and also served me and other Explorer Scouts as our meeting place because the civic minded father of one of my best friends from our old elementary school both formed and financially supported our Explorer Troop and, as a member of that congregation, got permission for us to meet there. My old friend and his family still attend that church in its new location. I bet he thinks about both our old school and his family’s old church building frequently when he goes to his new church.

Gentle Reader, you may get a sense from these reflections that somehow I am casting some sort of shadow over those who have seen fit to make the changes in my old school or the two old churches or my old beloved community at large to whom and what I owe so much. You would be far from the mark. I was blessed to learn many treasured lessons from my old school and several old churches, only one of which was mine, and countless friends, teachers and wise elders. How could I rue the decisions they made that helped make me so gratified today?

Changes must happen and hopefully they will be positive. One lesson I learned from those halcyon days of now bygone buildings was that the generosity and wisdom of those who populated those structures and that of those who now frequent the new ones are what matters most.

To paraphrase Martin Luther King, Jr., it is not the structures that are most important but the character nurtured by those who dwell therein. Old schools, changing old churches and changing communities are inevitable. However, it is not inevitable that change is good; good people must make them so. I was fortunate to grow up where the people did. 

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