Walk for mental illness

At Hugh MacRae Park people were braving the rain to help raise awareness on mental illness.

The National Alliance for Mental Illness sponsored their sixth annual walk. The organization provides peer based services to support those in the Cape Fear region who suffer from mental illness.

While supporters walked to help promote awareness, those who deal with it say everyone should choose their words carefully when describing mental illness.

Jennifer Overfield deals with mental illness on a regular basis. She said, “People have all different levels of mental illness. Not everyone is the typical crazy or psycho. Those words are overused.”

NAMI currently provides peer to peer, family to family, and crisis intervention training to help teach those who deal with mental illness on a regular basis.

Sherriff Sid Causey was on hand to show his support and recognize officers that have done outstanding work with the crisis intervention program.