To the editor:
Perhaps you’ve seen the signs around town, Community Is the Solution. As one who deeply appreciates the community spirit in the town of Warwick, I have been supportive of the efforts of We the People Warwick and of their recent mental health forum entitled, You Are Not Alone. As a mental health practitioner, I was encouraged by WTPW’s desire to bring to the forefront the issue of mental health and to help raise awareness of the various ways people’s lives are affected.
At first, I was struck with the number of presenters, eighteen in all, and wondering how anything could be addressed with any depth. But the way the evening was managed, with each speaker getting five minutes, I soon discovered that this was one way to convey the breadth of the issue and how it touches so many lives. Of course, there is no way to address all the issues associated with mental health in one setting and WTPW recognized that. What was accomplished, I believe, is that everyone who attended the event could find themselves relating to several speakers for any number of reasons.
Perhaps most moving were the deeply personal stories that were marked by tragedy and resilience. With some pause, all of us can find ourselves connecting to some life event that brings us to our knees but that also stirs within us a need to use hardship for some positive end, either for ourselves or others. That message of the importance and benefit of positive, connective healing was loud and clear in the You Are Not Alone event.
Jim Knol, LCSW
Warwick