About 100 people, more than double the anticipated amount, gathered at the art center to hear from local voices on the stigma attached to mental health and access to local resources Tuesday night.
Following the discussion, multiple people in the crowd asked variations of the same question, “If I see someone in the street or workplace who needs help, who do we call?”
Mendocino county registers some of the highest rates of mental illness in the state. On average, in the last 30 days, adults in the county experienced about 4.1 days of poor mental health according to statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). To compare, California averages about 3.6 days of poor mental health, with the worst topping at 4.4 days per month.
Sheriff Allman spoke next, telling the story of his brother who committed suicide and his experience with mental illness while on the job. Fighting back tears he said his goal is to get mental health addressed. He concluded by saying that mental health is the number one public health issue in the county.
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