- Mental Health
Submitted by: Susanne Johnson
Karen and her husband have attended Heroes in Recovery 6K in Memphis, Tennessee yearly for the last three years. This is the only year that Karen could not run herself, but she still supports the cause and she especially supports her husband from the sidelines as he runs. “It’s an incredible event, fantastic organized and always so much fun to come here,” states Karen.
She loves to support the cause and knows how many people are affected by the disease of addiction or mental health issues. Karen and her husband enjoy running in and participating on behalf of a cause like this one. Plus, they enjoy meeting all of the awesome and incredible people both on the track and during the entertainment time afterwards.
Karen and her husband first located the Heroes in Recovery run via a race (running) website and found it unusual that this particular race is 6K in duration instead of the usual 5K runs that are found almost everywhere. It made them curious and they started to read what it is all about. They think it is great to add an extra kilometer to represent the extra distance that people with addiction or mental health problems always have to go. “It is an important program, even we don’t have someone on either side of our family with this illness,” Karen adds.
Karen works for a clinic in Memphis and helps treat individuals with a number of addiction and addiction-related problems. She also sees their families and the hopelessness involved. “Many people fight depression in our clinic,” she states. “Depression so often leads to drug addiction or alcoholism.”
If anyone among her friends or family encountered a problem with the disease, Karen would help them with empathy and all support possible. Sometimes someone who is struggling just needs simple help like assistance with research or making phone calls to find a place where they can get help. “Nobody can do any of this alone. Reach out for help,” implores Karen. “When going through this type of painful journey, you will feel worse if you are isolated. When you are struggling this much, you are not rational enough to plan where to go for help. You need a friend– and then recovery is do-able.”