Support mental health care ~ preventive strategies

An echo letter to the editor published in the South Dakota newspaper the Capital Journal ~ this opinion calls attention to the critical need to improve mental health facilities.

We were vacationing in Florida on February 14, the day that 17 people lost their lives in The Parkland, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, school massacre. 

(MaineWriter ~ Astonishingly and tragically, yet another school massacre has occurred in Sante Fe Texas, near Houston, since this South Dakota letter was published.)

How would you feel if one of the victims were a relative or a friend of yours? We listened to the local news report -- it was in numerous newspaper articles, on the radio and constantly on TV. 

Over and over, incidents were mentioned where the individual responsible had shown warning signs that he needed mental help. Why was he not referred? Why were none referred? (MaineWriter ~ in my opinion, it's because mental health insurance coverage is very difficult to access. Insurances are reluctant to cover mental health care.)

Was help not readily available? So far, we in central South Dakota have been able to avoid events that might put us in the national spotlight. Our best hope of keeping tragedy at bay is providing our neighbors and our friends with opportunities for professional mental health care.

Seeking mental health is just as vital as seeking physical health: ignoring it and/or being afraid to seek it or recommend it to a friend can have devastating consequences. No one has a perfect life. Each of us either has or will encounter difficulties or problems or heartbreaks or disasters. Some of these situations can be dealt with appropriately without professional help, but others cannot.

Whether dealing with relationships, children, addictions, depression, suicide, abuse or another area of life, many people have been helped locally for 50 years by the programs Capital Area Counseling Services provides.

Mental Health Care provided in South Dakota's CACS is at a critical point in a capital campaign and needs $175,000 ASAP in order to break ground on a welcoming facility which will house all its treatment programs in one location. 

Every employee of CACS already donated and many individuals and businesses have also. Every dollar adds up. Donations may be made to: CACS Capital Campaign at 803 E. Dakota, Pierre, SD 57501 or online at www.cacsnet.org.

For further information, please call 605-224-5811.

Wally and Nancy Thomsen

Honorary co-chairmen

CACS Capital Campaign

MaineWriter ~ All gun violence is preventable