The purpose of the Suicide Prevention and Substance Use Prevention programs are to reduce the impact of mental illness, and substance use in Lake County’s communities. Education around prevention of these two targeted areas and related problems in children, adolescents, and young adults is critical to Lake County’s behavioral and physical health. In addition, people with a mental health issues are more likely to use alcohol or drugs than those not affected by a mental illness. If communities and families can intervene early, behavioral health disorders might be prevented, or symptoms can be mitigated. The Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) purpose for Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) programs is to prevent mental illness from becoming severe and disabling. We utilize strategies that reduce the stigma surrounding the topic of mental illness, reduce discrimination against people with mental illness and help people connect people with appropriate services. We also want to emphasize strategies to increase protective factors and reduce the negative outcomes that may stem from untreated mental illness, such as: suicide, incarcerations, school failure, prolonged suffering, unemployment, and homelessness, to name a few. To combat these issues, we conduct trainings related to the areas of Suicide Prevention and Substance Use Prevention by utilizing an educational perspective. curriculums utilized are: Towards no Drugs, Project Alert, and QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer), we not only educate the general population but give community members the basic skills to identify and often intervene on destructive behaviors, in order to connect an individual with appropriate services. We also take an active part in the community at large by holding events ranging from our May is Mental Health Matters Month Matters, which addresses reducing the stigma associated with mental illness, to Red Ribbon Week in which we coordinate events and activities surrounding alcohol, tobacco and other drug and violence prevention awareness, and participate in Child Abuse Prevention event, as child abuse has been correlated with substance use and abuse.
