MACON, Ga. — We’re highlighting mental health issues in our community and how people are facing them head-on in our series 'Mental Health Mondays.'
'Macon It Happen Monday' is what counselors at the Southern Center for Choice Theory call their Mondays. At the beginning of every week starting at 10:30 a.m., they open their doors to everyone to help them fight anxiety, depression, and other struggles.
Paige Reeves is a mother of four and after she had her first daughter, she went through post-partum depression. She knew she needed to get help.
“I started going and getting help because I was not helping anyone being depressed and being anxious,” she said.
Knitting helped her cope with the anxiety and depression.
“All of this, what I have created here, is not a manifestation of my depression or anxiety, but it’s a tool to help me process it,” she said.
Now, she helps others by teaching a group how to knit while talking out their mental health problems. It happens every Monday at the Booker T. Washington Community Center.
She helps provide a safe space for them to share their anxiety, depression, or trauma as a group. It helps them to know everyone may go through the same thing, and there’s a chance they can get through it together.
“Other people are traumatized, so it is OK to speak about that. In a group setting, someone disclosing and sharing will empower someone else to share,” she said.
The Southern Center for Choice Theory is partnering this summer with the recreation centers around Macon-Bibb County to educate kids on choosing peace instead of violence.
They open their doors to the public at the Booker T. Washington Community Center in Macon every Monday starting at 10:30 a.m. It’s free!