World Mental Health Awareness Day: Milwaukee joins worldwide campaign to end stigma

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Milwaukee is joining a worldwide campaign to spread awareness to end the stigma around mental health. 

The Hoan Bridge was lit in green Tuesday night, Oct. 10, the color for mental health.

Green is often thought of as a calm color. Green represents balance and harmony and promotes relaxation. That's the message Milwaukee wants to get out on this World Mental Health Awareness Day. 

Rogers Behavioral Health partnered with Light the Hoan for this green show of support. 

"Even though I think it's getting better, there's still a stigma out there around what it means to have symptoms of a mental disorder," said Rachel Leonard, executive director of clinical strategy for Rogers Behavioral Health.

At UW-Milwaukee, they're trying to change that, offering students a comforting space to let go of some stress. 

"It's really kind of a Zen zone," said Carrie Fleider, director of counseling services at UW-Milwaukee. 

"We have a massage chair, and virtual reality goggles, and biofeedback equipment that's in this really relaxing area. Students can sign that out for half an hour at a time," said Fleider. 

The mindful space was created last year at the campus' student health and wellness center, which also provides a menu of services like individual counseling and group therapy. 

"College counseling, around the country, we're seeing increased rates of anxiety and depression and trauma - the three biggest things we see students for. Certainly, post pandemic, that has increased," said Fleider. 

Experts say millennials are seeking treatment more frequently than earlier generations. Still, suicide's the number two cause of death in young people. 

"If you have a friend who's suddenly -- there's a change in their emotional ability, they're up, they're down, and usually they're pretty steady," said Fleider. 

Milwaukee's support goes beyond college campuses. Last year, Children's Wisconsin got a new mental health walk-in clinic. They plan to open another one in Kenosha later this year. 

"With kids, it's a little tougher because they're not going to come up to you and say, 'I'm depressed.' But they might start to have stomach aches or headaches, or act out to be more irritable and frustrated," said Leonard. 

Overall, Milwaukee County suicide numbers have been relatively the same over the last few years. According to the Milwaukee County medical examiner, there were 130 in 2021, 132 in 2022, and for 2023, there are 66 to date.

There is a suicide hotline - it's 988 - staffed 24 hours a day. 

The American Foundation for Suicide's Wisconsin chapter will be holding their annual walk-a-thon. "Out of Darkness" will take place this Sunday, Oct. 15, at Veterans Park. For more information, click here.