MARYVILLE, Tenn. — The Maryville branch of a group that advocates for improved mental health services across the U.S. is pushing for more Blount County churches to play a bigger role in helping people's mental health.
Della Morrow is the chair of the Maryville chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
"If you're sitting in a church, and there's a pew with ten folks in it, there's two or three in your row that needs mental health assistance," she said. "Faith is a great outlet, and is a huge part of our overall wellbeing, but so is our mental health. And sometimes that includes therapy or medication."
The group prepared a 30-minute presentation for churches called Bridges of Hope. It teaches churches about mental illness, and how to help people who could be struggling with depression, anxiety or other kinds of mental health issues.
"We want to offer that and hope that many take advantage of it, because I think a lot of times, folks don't really know what to do if they hadn't been trained in that," said Morrow.
A Blount County advocate, Sydney Petty, said she found friends through her church, helping develop a sense of community. But when she was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder in high school, she said she needed more help than some members of the church could give.
She said that she spoke with a church member about her mental health, and felt like her issues had been dismissed.
"I grew up, preschool through 12-grade, in a private, Christian school in the south. I grew up in the Southern Baptist Church," said Petty. "The youth group leader looked at me and was like, 'Have you ever thought that maybe you're just not praying enough?' And then, thankfully, I was connected with some faith-based counselors."
She emphasized that churches can play a critical role in their communities, but still wanted to help them learn more about mental health issues so they could better connect with other people.
"To me, church is community for a lot of people," she said.