Library Offers Mind Over Matter Mental Health Series
Joyce Hawkins, Resource Specialist/Social Worker
At the Kinston-Lenoir County Public Library, we see firsthand how stigma and misinformation surrounding mental health topics such as anxiety, substance abuse, and suicide prevents individuals from seeking assistance. The truth is that mental health issues affect millions of people everyday.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that 110,236 people died of overdose in the month of March 2022, the peak of the opioid fentanyl epidemic. Most of these deaths were young people under the age of 40. Additionally, approximately 132 Americans die of suicide every day. Suicide is the 12th leading cause of death in the US and the 3rd leading cause of death among teenagers and young adults between the ages of 15-24. Additionally, Generalized Anxiety Disorder is the third most commonly diagnosed mental illness that affects Americans according to Health.com. The difficulty of finding information on these issues leaves many individuals who need related services feeling isolated and alone.
Neuse Regional Libraries are seeking to bridge that gap by presenting the Mind Over Matter mental health programming series. This series will present two programs per month for the months of February, March and April. These programs are free and open to the public. In addition to these programs, the Library continues to offer Let’s Connect services to anyone looking for information about community resources.
The first program begins at 6:00 p.m. on February 9, 2023 and explores the topic of “Overcoming Anxiety,” followed by a book discussion at 6:00 p.m. on February 23, 2023 on the book Unwinding Anxiety New science Shows How to Break the Cycle of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind. This book is available for checkout at the Kinston Lenoir County Public Library. The speaker for these two sessions will be Ruby Brown-Herring, CEO of RBH Wellness Solutions. For the month of March, we will present the topic “The Impacts of the Opioid Crisis, A Community Conversation.” In April, we will conclude The Mind Over Matter Series with “Talk Saves Lives: An introduction to Suicide Prevention” at 6:00 p.m. on April 6, 2023 and “Coping After Suicide” at 6:00 p.m. on April 20, 2023. All programs will be held in the Schechter Auditorium of the Kinston-Lenoir County Public Library and are free and open to the public.
The goals of our Mind Over Matter mental health series are to shed light on areas that are often kept hidden, to provide support to those affected by mental health issues, to educate the community about services available and to connect our community members to the resources that they need. For more information about Mind Over Matter or Let’s Connect, please email letsconnect@neuselibrary.org or call 252-527-7066, x134.
Neuse News is a locally-owned small business startup in downtown Kinston. Our goal is to provide free, hyper-local news to Lenoir, Greene and Jones counties. The kind of news our grandparents read in a format fit for today's times.
We provide this by having supportive advertisers and we encourage you to click on their ads, shop with them, and eat with them. Every bit of financial support is important to help us sustain free, hyper-local news.
Please consider supporting Neuse News with as little as $5 one-time or via a monthly option. Every little bit helps us, help you.
