Whitney Downard / The Meridian StarThe five member panel at Tuesday mental health town hall meeting included Daphne Bridges, Margo Evans, Lin Hogan, Ricardo Clayton and Rev. Eugene Boger. 

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Meridian Affiliate hosted a town hall meeting Tuesday night, promoting discussion about mental health issues related to violence and trauma.

The public event, held at the EMEPA auditorium on Highway 39 North in Meridian, featured a five-member panel to discuss domestic violence, teen dating violence, violence in schools, effects of trauma and the role of faith in trauma.

Thirty-seven people attended the two-hour event, beginning with short presentations from panelists and ending with a question-and-answer period. 

Members of the panel included Weems Community Mental Health Center clinical services coordinator Dr. Lin Hogan, Margo Evans from Central Mississippi Residential Center in Newton, Meridian Public School District Police Chief Ricardo Clayton and Rev. Eugene Boger of St.Paul’s United Methodist Church. 

Hogan focused on the coexistence of substance abuse disorders and trauma. Nearly every patient with a substance abuse disorder has also suffered some sort of trauma, Hogan said.

“Drugs and alcohol are often used to ease the emotional pain of trauma,” said Hogan. “And what they find is that drugs and alcohol fix that very efficiently for a short period of time.”

According to Hogan, those suffering trauma, in the forms of acute stress disorder or its cousin, post-traumatic stress disorder, turn to drugs or alcohol as a form of escape.

“The problem is, that’s reinforcing and they’re more likely to return to it over time and develop a substance abuse disorder and now they have two problems,” said Hogan.

Clayton talked about his experience working with children in the Meridian Public School District.

“Anything that you see in the community, it comes to school,” said Clayton. “Some of these students experience (these traumas) and they have to come to school, try to detach from whatever is going on and be a student.”

Clayton said he combated this incoming trauma, such as domestic violence at home, by creating a safe space for students to come, find a listening ear and be kids. 

“Pain shared is pain divided,” said Clayton. “We can’t hold on to how it was, nor dwell on how it should be, we have to deal with how it is. And right now our kids are living with what it is.”

Presenters and audience members agreed that the biggest obstacle the community faced is the stigma surrounding mental illness.

“That’s the biggest hurdle that exists for everyone,” said Clayton. “Nobody wants to be known, or diagnosed with a mental illness.”

Clayton talked about his daughter, who has special needs, seeing the Special Olympics for the first time and realizing that others were like her. Education would allow others to realize they are not alone in their mental illness. 

“We have to get away from that (stigma) thought process,” said Clayton. “You are who you are but you are still worth loving.”

Patricia Battle, president of the NAMI Meridian Affiliate, said the organization fights that stigma through these town hall meetings, personal narratives and through support groups for both those suffering from mental illness and their families. 

“We (at NAMI) know that through education and programs we will break down that stigma,” said Battle. “We want to become a household name so that people know they can use NAMI for support, resources and for education.”