MANASSAS — Black leaders in Prince William County put the focus on mental health Monday night.
Cozy Bailey, president of the Prince William County chapter of the NAACP welcomed about 25 people to a panel discussion about better access to health care for Virginia residents.
Held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., panelists sounded the alarm of the problem of mental illness and gave hope for what appears to be an improving situation as more people are finding faster access to treatment.
“We used to have a 45-day wait period,” said Pat Victorson, who sits on the board of directors of the Prince William County Chapter of National Association of Mental Illness.
A new state law mandates those suspect to be suffering mental illness be evaluated by a professional on the same day, and in many cases at a walk-in style clinic. Changes in the way mental illness is diagnosed speed up the process and allowed professionals to diagnose problems faster added Victorson.
“Many people might be asking what does the NAACP have to do with mental health? What is that about,” said Bailey. “It’s a right in this country to have access to healthcare.”
His wife, Andrea Bailey, who ran for the Potomac District seat on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors in 2015 moderated the event. She was appointed in May as a citizen member of the Governor’s Virginia Board of Psychology.
Diving deeper in the health care matters, Bailey questioned her panelists on everything from dealing with substance abuse to properly labeling disorders in children, such as autism, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.
“There’s a stigma to labeling,” said Bailey. “We don’t want to call it it what it us, and we don’t want to address it.”
Physiologist Dr. Joann Thomas Wilson who sat on the panel said some children, especially those of color, can be misdiagnosed for having ADHD when the child could have a poor diet that forces changes in their behavior.
“The Energizer Bunny run on batteries. Our little bunnies are running on sugar,” said Thomas Wilson.
She urged parents to clear out the cupboards, removing cereals high in sugar. She also called for more children to become involved in their children’s lives by volunteering in their schools.
The First AME Church on South Grant Avenue in Manassas played host to the event.
