Break the Stigma
The ADAMHS Board Podcast
The Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board of Tuscarawas and Carroll Counties is an agency established for the purpose of planning, funding, monitoring and evaluating contracted mental health, alcohol, and drug treatment services.
Break the Stigma is a podcast focused on the true stories of individuals from the community who have experienced problems with substance addiction and/or mental health.
Too often the mindset when looking upon those shouldering these burdens is, “Just get off drugs,” or, “Be more positive,” or, “Get a job.” People – and, yes, remember these are people – dealing with addiction or mental health concerns need support and love from their community. Not judgment and blame.
So join ADAMHS Board Executive Director Natalie Bollon on her journey through the community, interviewing many different people and sharing their stories with everyone. Together, we can break the stigma of addiction and mental health.
The Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board of Tuscarawas and Carroll Counties is an agency established for the purpose of planning, funding, monitoring and evaluating contracted mental health, alcohol, and drug treatment services.
Break the Stigma is a podcast focused on the true stories of individuals from the community who have experienced problems with substance addiction and/or mental health.
Too often the mindset when looking upon those shouldering these burdens is, “Just get off drugs,” or, “Be more positive,” or, “Get a job.” People – and, yes, remember these are people – dealing with addiction or mental health concerns need support and love from their community. Not judgment and blame.
So join ADAMHS Board Executive Director Natalie Bollon on her journey through the community, interviewing many different people and sharing their stories with everyone. Together, we can break the stigma of addiction and mental health.
On this episode, Polly Patin-Mellor joins the show. Polly is a member of the ADAMHS Board board of directors, a role she’s held for 24 years. She is a mental health consumer, which means she has had some type of behavior or mental health treatment in the ADAMHS Board system of care.
Polly shares her experiences with mental health and how the ADAMHS Board has impacted her life. Listen as she shares her story that began with postpartum depression after the birth of her son. She came to realize that her mind was, as she says, broken. And so she set out to get it fixed.
Polly talks about the stigma surrounding mental health illnesses and the self-pity, shame, and blame that can accompany that stigma. When Polly asked her doctor why mental illness had to strike her, the doctor replied, “Why not you? Why shouldn’t you have to deal with problems in this world?” And that made Polly realize that her mental illness wasn’t her fault or the fault of anyone else; mental illness was an unfortunate circumstance like a broken arm, and circumstances can be dealt with and overcome.
This story is truly inspiring. You’ll feel Polly’s passion on her mission to break the stigma of mental illness.
Want to learn more about the ADAMHS Board?
Visit www.adamhtc.org
Email office@adamhtc.org
Mental health affects us all differently. Let’s come together and break the stigma today.