A forum taking place on Thursday afternoon in Middletown will bring together mental health providers and advocates to discuss the many challenges facing people with mental illness.
The conference, called "Meeting Mental Health Needs: A Compassionate Community Response" is a chance for people with mental illness and their families to share stories and experiences navigating an often confusing patchwork of mental health services. "It became a full time job for me," said Fran Ludwig, a panelist for Thursday's forum, whose son has been battling chronic mental illness his entire life. "I pretty much dropped out of sight for 20 years. He actually received his first psychiatric diagnosis at three years old, and by the time he was 25, he had accumulated 13 different psychiatric diagnoses."
"Meeting Mental Health Needs" will be moderated by WNPR's Lucy Nalpathanchil. The forum gets underway on Thursday at 5:30 pm at the Daniels Family Commons on the Wesleyan University campus in Middletown.