Rural Minds Working to Break Mental Health Stigma

Rural minds Executive Director Chuck strand says among the work the organization does is working to break the stigma surrounding mental health and recognizing what it is.

"Many times people who think of mental illness are somebody that is mentally ill isn't necessarily, it's not apparent outwardly that they may be having mental health challenges. So it's May could be difficult for people to recognize mental illness as an illness, but just like any other illness, it needs to be treated. And some of the responses that somebody who may be suffering with mental illness, those people may receive responses such as you know, you'll feel better tomorrow or look on the bright side. That type of thing is, is really not going to be applicable to somebody who had the illness. So what we want to do in part is is really elevate the awareness and the education for mental illness.

Strand says they do not want to reinvent what other related organizations are doing. But they want to fill in the gaps and provide resources that are already available"

"Providing access to all the resources that are out there. And by doing that, we're hoping to become a one-stop location for people who are searching for whether it may be mental crisis resources and information or just mental health information and resources on a more general basis.

For more information on how the organization started and the work they do. Log on to ruralminds.org