Like Mike Wallace, Abraham Lincoln, Mary Kate Olsen, Winston
Churchill and Brooke Shields, many people suffer from mental
illness.
Locally, Sandy Schooley, Fran Cecchetti, Scott Henderson and
Darryl Pequeen decided to come together to talk about their mental
health issues and to remind people in Bradford that it’s mental
health awareness month. They are working to erase the stigma.
To highlight this important issue, service providers and those
with mental illnesses are holding a mental health fair from 1 to 5
p.m. Thursday at St. Bernard Catholic Church Parish Center. The
event will include an ice cream social, a speakers forum, table
displays, slide show and more.
Pequeen attends Dickinson Mental Health Center Partial
Hospitalization and he says without it, he would not have achieved
what he has today, including being able to provide a home for his
daughter, helping his mother and others in the community and the
realization that he is a worthwhile person.
“It’s hard. Everything you do has consequences and costs. Now I
know how I feel inside,” he said. “If I didn’t have Dickinson, I
would never have been able to do this. It helped me to see I am a
caring, worthwhile individual.”
Pequeen explained that when he started Dickinson Partial 5 1/2
years ago, he spent the first two years just sitting and
watching.
“I was resistant to participate, then I realized I wasn’t
alone,” he explained, adding he has trouble trusting others.
“I see other people’s situations and now I am not so
judgmental,” he said. “I can talk to them easier now.”
Pequeen is a volunteer for the Bradford Manor, where he helps
one woman with her shopping needs. He enjoys the work and said he
would also enjoy getting back to work.
“I’ve become a contributing person in society and now instead of
taking everything, I give back,” he added.
Henderson said he deals with about 5,000 different thoughts at
the same time with his Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder
(ADHD.) But that is not all he has; he is also diagnosed with major
depression and generalized anxiety.
He said before he attended Dickinson Partial, he would isolate
and sleep a lot and not eat right. He said basically he had “no
socialization.”
Henderson has now been attending Dickinson Partial
Hospitalization for 11 months – the longest period of time he has
spent in any form of group-based therapy – and now feels he can
help others by seeing that they get help for themselves if
needed.
He explains that he had symptoms and problems in his childhood,
but did not receive the correct help because his parents just told
him to “work on himself and get better.”
“I had my own stigma about mental health. I thought it would
mean that I had a lack of intelligence if I pursued help,” said
Henderson. “I thought I would fall into a cluster of others that
were low functioning.”
Henderson said he spent at least 15 years with his mental
illness before he was able to stick to a program that would help
him. He lived in Cleveland, Ohio, and said help in the inner city
was not the same as it is in Bradford.
“There is a definite difference between the inner city and a
rural area (when it comes to mental health services) – it’s more
intimate here,” he added.
“If you feel or notice that children are having problems, seek
help for them, any relatives – get a head start on it – do what you
can to resolve it. And keep your doctor’s appointments,” said
Henderson.
Schooley has been a part of STEPS Drop-In Center for eight
years, four of them as president. The social center is located at
62 Main and Chambers St.
She said the turnout at STEPS is good but more people with
mental illness are welcome to go. She said they have different
activities such as Bingo, board games, ceramics, movies, family
days and casino nights, among other activities.
“We are sorry that “non-sick” people can’t come in – it’s fun!,”
said Schooley with a smile.
“It’s really important for me helping others with their
diagnoses,” she said. “It’s become something really powerful for
me.”
In addition to being president at STEPS, Schooley is also part
of a group that travels to Warren State Hospital to talk to
patients there who may be getting out soon.
“I let them know that if I can do it – so can they,” she said,
adding it has been a long road to recovery for herself to get
headed in the right direction.
Jayne Peterson of The Guidance Center said “It helps to instill
hope and reduce the fear for them to know what is out there. And
people look to Sandy to provide that leadership at STEPS.”
Schooley adds, “It helps me too – it really helps me a lot.”
“If you have any symptoms of a mental illness, call mental
health services or even the family doctor,” said Schooley.
Cecchetti said she moved to Bradford from Kane two years ago and
her new neighbors like her so well that they said they feel she was
“brought by God here” to them.
She said the move was difficult because she has family in Kane,
but she has been able to adjust with all that she is involved in,
including the Twin Tiers Pregnancy Center, where she volunteers and
prays with them; she also goes along with Schooley to Warren State
Hospital to conduct interviews with patients there; at the Partial
Program at the hospital, she leads spirituality groups; and at
STEPS, she volunteers to cook.
Cecchetti said she enjoys volunteering and helping people find
their way to the Lord, but would also like to work and make money.
At this time, she calls herself a self-employed spiritual
director.
She, Pequeen and Henderson will be part of a six-person panel
that will speak at the Health Fair at St. Bernard Catholic Church.
The panel discussion will begin at 4 p.m.
Cecchetti reminds people that if they notice they are not
feeling right, they should get help.
“If you feel any symptoms try to get some help, even for family
members, call the hotline,” she said.
Mary Anne Polucci-Sherman a licensed psychologist, adds that
people almost always think you can just “pick yourself up by your
boot straps and get better,” and these people are willing to talk
because they know that it not true.
Barb Cole, director of Dickinson Partial Hospitalization, said
the panel speakers will talk about a variety of things, including
medications and more about their own mental illnesses.
“They will talk about how they have come up against prejudices –
to educate the general public on mental illnesses to help people
better understand,” she said.
