Roundtable staged in Wagram centers on mental health

WAGRAM — Back in October of 2023, Rep. Garland Pierce noticed an article headlined “Crisis in children’s mental health takes a heavy toll in rural southeastern NC.”

The article featured comments from Columbus County pediatric mental health provider Dr. Jugta Kahai. Dr. Kahai discussed the current mental health crisis affecting hundreds of children in Southeastern North Carolina — in particular, a lack of facilities and qualified professionals to address urgent mental health concerns.

The article caught Rep. Pierce’s attention and kept his attention. This past Wednesday, he brought Dr. Kahai and a panel of mental health experts right into the center of District 48 to begin the conversation.

Mental health professionals, school officials, state and local government officials and more gathered at Wagram Recreation Center on the morning of Feb. 21. The purpose was to hold a roundtable to discuss what has become one of Rep. Pierce’s top priorities in 2024: increasing access to high-quality mental healthcare in rural North Carolina.

“Wagram isn’t just a small town, it’s a small small town,” Rep. Pierce said to laughter as he opened the session in his hometown. “But this is an issue that affects everyone everywhere, and it’s time to talk about it.”

An audience of stakeholders and residents listened and took notes as a broad panel of experts from across the field of mental health gave presentations. Among the agencies represented were the State of North Carolina, Scotland County Schools, Hoke County Health Department., Columbus Regional Healthcare, the North Carolina Medical Society, the North Carolina Pediatric Society, Community Success Initiative (CSI), and Inseparable, a mental health advocacy nonprofit.

In addition to hard data provided by state government representatives, the event featured several personal anecdotes from locals, bringing focus to the real-world experience of people everywhere with depression, anxiety and countless other struggles.

Tony Locklea,r of Hoke County Health Department, was one panelist who brought the issue home.

“One thing is that we live in a religious area, and that’s great — spiritual conversations are important — but sometimes taking our concerns to the altar isn’t the end of the conversation,” Locklear said. “It’s very important that people become aware of how complex our minds are, and how professional help can sometimes make a huge difference. We have to fight the stigma around talking about our mental health.”

In addition to providing an overview of current funding and needs, State Mental Health Director Kelly Crosbie discussed the new personalized mental health crisis line that the state of NC rolled out earlier in the week, the Peer Warmline. This hotline connects callers with others who have had similar experiences and may be reached at 1-855-PEERS NC (1-855-733-7762).

Gov. Roy Cooper provided a personalized video greeting for the attendees.

“Just like we take the time to take care of our physical health, we need to take care of our mental health as well,” Cooper said. “And with more than 2 million North Carolinians affected by some form of mental illness, it’s critical that we continue to have these conversations and take action.”

Several issues became recurring points of conversation.

Scotland Commissioner Whit Gibson urged the recruitment of more mental health providers in the area.

“We’re at a point where even if we doubled the number of our current providers, we still wouldn’t have enough for all the people in Scotland County who need care,” Gibson said. “We need to figure out how to attract these professionals to our area.”

Ivan Pride, RHA Health Services-Lumberton, spoke to the need for professional communication and collaboration across agencies.

“So many of us are doing wonderful work, but we have always tended to operate in silos – we work in our own concentration and we’re not aware of the work and help available in other agencies,” Pride said. “We need to come together more.”

Pooja Mehta of Inseparable, a national mental health advocacy nonprofit, thanked Rep. Pierce for recently joining the State Mental Health Caucus — a nationwide network of state-level legislators, both Democrats and Republicans, who are coming together to address mental health across the nation.

“This is an issue that has nearly 100% support across party lines – there is no reason we cannot make significant changes across the country with this level of bipartisan support,” Mehta said.

Many other topics were discussed, but one comment recurred more than any other, from both professionals and residents: “Please have more events like this.”

“Well, May is National Mental Health Awareness Month,” Rep. Pierce said. “We will see you again very soon.”