SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Chapter of NAMI will be hosting a conference this weekend—to provide valuable resources to kids and parents.
Addressing mental health is one step in a journey that can be long for many people.
“Ironically through that pain, I kind of found my empowerment,” Kristie Alsagar, a clinician has become a mental health advocate.
She had her own struggles before she could help others.
“As a teenager I had suicidal ideation, and a few years ago I had a close family member lost touch with reality, they weren’t coherent enough to take care of themselves,” Alsagar said.
The tools to work on those problems and others will be available at the Pathways to Hope conference being held on August 26 and August 27.
Doug Beach, president of the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, says it will be the first in person conference since the pandemic began.
This comes at a time where the group is trying to break the stigma surrounding mental health.
“One in five people will experience a mental health disorder this year in Bexar County. That’s over 400,000 people. That means everybody knows somebody impacted,” Beach said.
Educators, faith leaders and healthcare workers will be speaking at the conference with information available in English and Spanish.
There is a focus in several different areas including healing communities. Beach says they will be discussing the impacts of the pandemic on mental health. It also comes at a time where teen mental health issues are on the rise.
According to CDC data from 2019, roughly 1 in 6 youth reported making a suicide plan in the previous year, a 44% increase since 2009. The information could help kids and parents spot mental illness.
Alsagar says others experiencing pain, can be empowered too.
“You’re not alone but you have it within you to heal yourself and to have that growth and move forward. Everybody does, no matter what culture or ethnicity or race, or experience you’re going through”
The conference will be held at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in downtown. You can find information on how to attend on their website.