HoCo Health Department offers free mental health treatment

HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — It can be hard for someone in need of mental healthcare to reach out. That could be due to a lack of money, not knowing how to access care or a stigma attached to having a mental health condition.

The Houston County Health Department wants to make finding help easier for Middle Georgia residents; they are offering free and low-cost mental health treatment to those who need a helping hand. To the Health Department’s knowledge, this is the only clinic of this kind offered by a public health department.

The Health Department offers services to Houston, Baldwin, Crawford, Hancock, Jasper, Jones, Macon-Bibb, Monroe, Peach, Putnam, Twiggs, Washington and Wilkinson counties.

Treatment starts with free counseling sessions. The Health Department has partnered with Mercer University’s Family Therapy program to provide counseling to families, couples and individuals of all ages.

Gail Godwin is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner with the Health Department. She provides low-cost services related to medication management. If a patient needs medication, they will be referred to Godwin for treatment in conjunction with the counselor. Godwin can help prescribe medication or help patients continue with their current medications.

She said this is a good option for those who are between jobs or have had a lapse in health insurance coverage and need to stay on top of their prescriptions. Medication management is available for anyone 18-years-old and older.

Since the treatment is provided through the Health Department, patients can be referred to other clinics that are more related to their bodies, something Godwin referred to as “integrated care.”

“Our minds are not separate from our bodies,” Godwin said, “It’s all one package; it’s just that our health care system has divided those up and made it difficult to get one or the other, mostly not getting mental health [treatment.]”

The services provided by the Health Department are in stark contrast to a grim statistic. According to Houston County District Attorney William Kendall, nearly a dozen suicides or calls relating to suicide took place last month in the county.

Kendall urges the public to keep weapons and medicines in a safe location, to watch for signs of mental illness and to seek help early on. According to the Health Department, there are few places that offer low-cost help, but they’re hoping to bridge the gap and make mental health more accessible.

“People that are struggling with mental health [issues] also have difficulty navigating the [mental healthcare] system to be able to get into it,” Chris Sikes, a nurse manager at the Health Department, said.

The Health Department also hopes to break the stigma associated with seeking mental health treatment but has made it easier for patients to avoid the stigma altogether.

“They can come to the Health Department and just say ‘I have to go to the health department.’ Everybody goes to the health department for all kinds of things.” Godwin said. “They don’t have to say ‘I’m going for mental health [treatment.]’”

The Health Department believes this treatment not only benefits individuals but also the community as a whole.

“Much like the physical health of a community, the mental wellness of a community is just as important,” Sikes said. “By addressing mental health issues, our hope is to address a myriad of things: to help do our part to reduce crime, to help reduce the burden in the emergency room, to help reduce the burden of disease in the community through these means of helping mental health [issues.]”

“If a person doesn’t have mental health, they don’t have health because poor mental health will affect their whole life,” Godwin said.

To begin mental health treatment, call Houston County Health Department at (478) 218-2000 and ask for mental healthcare. Telehealth services are also available.

“If you can just tell us a little bit about what you need, we’ll figure it out and get you scheduled,” Sikes said.

If you are in immediate crisis, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1 (800) 273-8255.

HHJ News