County’s 9th mental health awareness event to be held on Oct. 9

Prince William County Mental Health Awareness Event will be Oct. 9, from 3 to 7:30 p.m. at the Dr. A.J. Ferlazzo Building at 15948 Donald Curtis Drive in Woodbridge “to bring together the community at large with the mental health community to educate, to dispel myths about people that are living with mental illness,” said Lucy Stephany, a therapist with the county’s Community Services agency,

Stephany said nearly 20 percent of Americans will be touched by mental illness. “At some point, one out of six Americans will either have mental illness or will have a close family member or friend with mental illness. “

Dr. Bobby Miglani, the medical director of Community Services, will lead a panel discussion that will center on the symptoms of anxiety and depression, coping skills and recovery, with a question-and-answer period following the discussion.

“There are going to be four panelists who are going to talk about either depression or anxiety and they’re going to talk about the coping skills they’ve used that have been successful for them,” Stephany said.

Also on the schedule are recovery workshops which include: Acupuncture, Massage, Mindfulness, Crafting, Blood Pressure & Health Education, Exercise and Nutrition.

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Dinner and cake will be served at the event.

More information and the program schedule go to http://www.pwcgov.org/cs.