Approximately 61.5 million adults in America experience mental illness in a year, 13.6 million of those live with severe mental illness. For children, however, 20 percent experience severe mental disorders. Fifty percent of the mental illnesses begin in people at age 14, and 75 percent by the age of 24. Depression is on dramatic rise, increasing 20 percent every year. Most people who have a mental illness usually suffer from one or more additional mental illnesses. Because of the growing rates of mental illnesses, people need to be made aware of all of the varieties, the causes and how to cope with them. Mental Illness Awareness Week is one way to accomplish this. “People stay quiet, they suffer in silence with depression or anxiety thinking I can handle this on my own,” SCCC counselor Rhonda Kinser said. “I was one of those people. For almost two years I battled anxiety with bouts of depression. I did not want to believe I couldn’t handle it on my own. I was afraid of what people would think if I told them what I was dealing with. But once I let go of my pride and saw my doctor, she was able to prescribe some medication and I went to counseling for six months. I found out that there are people who want to help! Mental Health Awareness week is about helping others realize they are not in this alone,” Kinser said. Mental Illness Awareness Week is the first full week of every October. The U.S. Congress issued MIAW in 1990 to raise awareness for mental illnesses in recognition of National Alliance on Mental Illnesses. This year the MIAW week is scheduled for October 5-11. The MIAW collaborates with National Day of Prayer for illness understanding and recovery on Oct. 7. MIAW also collaborates with National Depression Screening Day on October 9. Seward County Community College counseling office and Southwest Guidance Center sponsored a National Depression Screening Day Oct. 9 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the SCCC library. “This is the first year that we are partnering with SCCC during Mental Illness Awareness Week. The response to this event was positive and highlighted the need for additional screening events in the future,” Dr. Leslie Bissel from Southwest Guidance Center said. Students were able to fill out a self-assessment and take it to the library for a free and confidential screening with a professional counselor. “Even if students get positive feedback from the screen, the chance to educate them and give them some tools to be more mindful of what depression or anxiety looks like before it happens also increases the likelihood that they will seek help when they need it or help a friend when they experience challenges,” Dr. Bissel said. “By participating in this screening they may, for the first time, get answers to why they have persistent feelings of worry, fear, or sadness and come to realize there is hope and help,” Kinser said.