Cases of depression, trauma, anxiety, addiction, and suicide have become rampant. The POSITIVE RESTORATION center provides counseling and support for individuals experiencing mental health issues.
At the center, counseling will be provided by Master level licensed and non-licensed mental health professionals. School-based counseling services will address trauma-focused therapy, crisis intervention, and building social skills. With over ten years of experience, we can identify the needs of our communities, and we desire to do more in helping citizens who are in crisis, the homeless, and displaced due to Hurricane Ida, to help primary schools that lack school counselors and social workers that are in high demand for counseling services. The organization targets four parishes in Louisiana – Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, and St Mary Parish.
POSITIVE RESTORATION has a mission to provide low-income and homeless youth and adults with access to healthy food, clothing, emergency housing assistance resources, mental health counseling, resources, and referrals that go beyond the basics to support vulnerable populations in maintaining restoration. We want to educate and provide resources and mental health services in the home, school, and community. We hope to sensitize individuals, predominantly the middle-aged, about mental health causes of mental illness and help them achieve positive mental health.
The organization currently provides temporary housing assistance, food, clothing, hygiene items, gas, toiletries, and school uniforms. However, we aspire to incorporate counseling services for which counselors would be paid to go in the community and provide mental health psychoeducation services in the homes, schools, and society, as well as counseling services that address the crisis, trauma, depression, and improving self-esteem.
Mental illnesses can be acute or chronic and are diagnosable conditions that affect an individual’s emotional, psychological, and social well-being and often their behavior. These conditions include depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and mood or personality disorders.
Louisiana has a population of approximately 4.7 million people, and about 3.6% of adults in Louisiana (according to SAMHSA) live with severe mental health. According to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 1 in 5 people experience a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year—for Louisiana, this is an estimated 650,000 adults and 245,000 children. Today, the number of individuals suffering from mental health illnesses has increased. This is because situations that promote the risk factors of mental health illness occur more often, with some cases more severe than others. Generally, mental illness is usually due to mental stress or any form of pressure the brain undergoes.
Several risk factors are responsible for the increase in adults with mental health issues. Some of these factors include:
Genetics: Mental illness could be hereditary, often running in some families.
Environment: Unhealthy living conditions can lead to the development of mental illness. Poverty or having an abusive family puts a lot of pressure and stress on the brain and can often trigger mental illness. Mental stress can lead to emotional and mental symptoms like anxiety or irritability, depression, panic attacks, and sadness. The poor and the needy are mentally stressed with the pressure of making ends meet so that they may afford their family’s basic needs. The parents and the children are both stressed, but the severity of this stress differs. In some homes, it may cause both or one of the parents (usually the father) to become a bitter and angry father, always being brutal to their children. In this case, the children might, in turn, become fearful, depressed kids or sadists. In extreme cases, the child may grow up with childhood trauma, another factor causing mental illness.
Childhood trauma: Stressful events that occur during childhood can also impact the mental health of such a child. The most common causes of childhood trauma include accidents, bullying/cyberbullying, chaos or dysfunction in the house (such as domestic violence, a parent with a mental illness, substance abuse or incarcerated), death of a loved one, emotional abuse or neglect, physical abuse or neglect, separation from a parent or caregiver, sexual abuse, poverty, sudden and serious medical condition, violence, war/terrorism separation from a parent or caregiver.
Experiences like those listed can traumatize an individual, especially when a similar situation occurs or the individual is in such a setting. An example is a case where a child who was involved in a road accident that cost the lives of both of his parents finds it difficult to drive an automobile for fear of getting into an accident because when he sits in a car, the painful memory returns. Many children between the ages of 0-10 have faced terrible things, from flooding that has made them homeless to killings that have made them orphans or financial problems that have caused them to drop out and some illiterates. POSITIVE RESTORATION Foundation desires to wipe the tears on the faces of young ones and adults, giving them hope again by counseling and supporting them to achieve positive mental health while playing a role in providing their basic needs.
Negative thoughts: Negative thinking could be sponsored by painful past experiences that seriously affect the way one thinks about himself and the world. This negative thinking pattern interferes with everyday functioning and could be a symptom of a mental illness, such as depression, anxiety disorders, traumatic experiences, personality disorders, and schizophrenia.
Unhealthy habits: Unhealthy habits like overthinking, not getting enough sleep, or not eating can also lead to mental illness.
Drugs and alcohol: Drug abuse and alcohol trigger mental illness. They may seem to reduce tension but make problems worse. Alcohol and caffeine can increase feelings of anxiety. It can also make it harder to recover from mental illness. There has been a 13% increase. This foundation would sensitize adults, youth, and even children about the dangers of drug abuse, discouraging them from involving in the act. POSITIVE RESTORATION Foundation visits schools and gives the students counsel on matters relating to drug abuse, walking them through rehabilitation and helping them live an addiction-free life.
COVID-19 has had a negative impact on the mental health of a number of individuals in Louisiana. In February 2021, 47.5% of adults in Louisiana reported symptoms of anxiety or depression. The pandemic triggered fear to a great extent in the minds of people, causing anxiety. The change in the systems, that is, having to work from home and school from home, also heightened loneliness and depression.
Suicide, primarily caused by negative thinking, depression, or anxiety, has been said to be the fourth leading cause of death among 15-29 year-olds. A large number of people who committed suicide could have been saved if they had access to timely help, support, and awareness. The POSITIVE RESTORATION would be joining hands with the existing mental health support organizations to create community awareness of suicide and help the families of those affected.
People with mental disorders die on average 10–20 years before the general population due to physical conditions that could have been prevented. Good mental health makes good physical health. Therefore, we at POSITIVE RESTORATION are devoted to helping people achieve positive mental health.
Ready to make a positive difference in your community? Contact us today to learn how to get involved or access the support you need.