Thursday night twelve professionals from Birmingham’s largest mental health practice, Grayson and Associates, volunteered their time to help viewers struggling with emotional stress due to the economy.
For nearly six hours, NBC13HD viewers had the opportunity to get free advice from psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed professional counselors, and social workers on how to work through their problems.
Related:Fact Finder Special Report: 'Recession depression' during a down economy
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Beginning at 5 pm, the phone panel was live on the air with special stories in conjunction with Andrea Lindenberg’s Fact Finder report, “Recession Depression.,” Viewers were introduced to local people who unexpectedly became homeless after losing their jobs. Both were getting help from local organizations, including free medical care and prescription medications.
Our panel fielded hundreds of calls from people who needed to talk. Many just needed an impartial sounding board and advice on how to deal with family members who are showing signs of emotional distress. The majority of the people were dealing with a range of emotions like frustration, depression and anger. Most were worried about how to deal with an uncertain future because of job loss, losing their homes, not being able to afford health care and medication, or being able to provide basic needs for their families.
Panelist, Licensed Professional Counselor, Robbin Grayson said, “People are experiencing all kinds of symptoms of stress from the economy, and they may not even realize it. They’re having trouble sleeping, they may feel angrier than usual, and aren’t able to identify why. This can lead to marital problems. So it’s important to identify the source of the stress, talk about it with someone, and develop a plan to address it.“
This phone panel provided an outlet for people to talk out their problems, and get an impartial sounding board with experts in the medical field.
Anchors Mike Royer and Gina Redmond interviewed panelists during the 5, 6 and 10 pm news, to find out what kinds of calls were coming in, and what type of advice viewers could expect.
Also on the panel was Psychiatrist, Garry Grayson, M.D., He said, “There’s something about the kind of fear people have, a sense of helplessness, that many people are experiencing, and the sense of emotional exhaustion, trying to cope with circumstances that seem to be getting worse.”
Dr. Grayson added that many people are literally “worried sick.” He stressed that there is no magic pill for situations like this. He encouraged viewers to have courage in fighting these new emotional battles before they lead to physical illness.
Panelists also gave out phone numbers to local organizations which provide free counseling, medical and financial services.
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