4:12 PM
Ovidia
LONGMONT
— The public is invited to a free half-day conference Tuesday in
Boulder on the role of faith groups in addressing depression.
The
HOPE Coalition of Boulder County, formed in 2003 by community members
to educate and raise awareness about depression and suicide prevention,
is hosting the conference in honor of Mental Health Month, spokesman
Keith Matney said.
The conference, titled “Depression Over the Life Cycle & the
Role of Faith Communities,” will address depression in youth,
middle-aged adult and older adult populations, focusing on prevention
and intervention strategies for faith groups, a press release said.
The event is from 8 a.m. to noon at First Congregational Church, 1128 Pine St. in Boulder.
“It’s very spiritual dealing with mental illness: You feel
isolated and alone and trapped inside yourself,” said Matney, who
also works with a number of local mental illness programs.
“You’re forced to reconcile with a lot of psychologically
profound questions that are very difficult,” he added.
“It’s suffering that is invisible.”
Matney said the coalition, with the National Alliance for Mental
Illness, hosted its first interfaith conference on mental health last
year; 121 people attended.
More than 50 faith communities are expected to attend, he said. Those
from Longmont include First Congregational United Church of Christ,
LifeBridge Christian Church, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and
New Creation Church.
Matney said this year’s conference aims to give faith groups the
tools to help and support those affected by mental illnesses, including
depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive
disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and
personality disorder.
“Very often, those affected by mental illness are connected to
their faith communities. Either they approach someone directly in the
clergy first or someone in the congregation,” Matney said.
“But we’ve found that those individuals don’t have
the skills, knowledge, resources or training to work with the
individual or the family and point them in the right direction.”
Two Longmont churches, which have representatives attending
Tuesday’s conference in Boulder, are already reaching out.
LifeBridge Christian Church provides counseling and a support group for
those with depression, anxiety and fear, care ministry coordinator Abby
Carney said.
She said the church trains laypeople to serve as on-site counselors and can refer individuals to Christian counselors.
“We try to take away the taboo by talking about (mental illness)
and so people will be more willing to open up and come forward for
help,” she said.
First Congregational United Church of Christ in Longmont, with partners
the OUR Center and the Mental Health Center, provides a drop-in center
at 501 Fifth Ave. called Soft Voices.
There, those with mental illness can find a safe, supportive
environment, said John Parsons, church member and Soft Voices
volunteer. He said guests come for games, puzzles, art therapy, a quiet
place to rest or friendship.
The drop-in center was created five years ago, he said, and since then,
First Congregational has held a church service devoted to those with
mental illness. During the church’s annual meeting in 2007, it
unanimously passed a covenant to be an “open and supportive
church” to those affected by brain disorders.
“I can’t tell you how many (church) members, through the
last five years, have come forward to one of us talking to us about
their personal situation,” Parsons said.
“There’s still a stigma around mental illness, and
we’re very aware as a congregation of the struggles against that
stigma.”
