Hundreds of people gathered in front of the State House Thursday asking legislators to expand access to services for people suffering from mental health and substance abuse disorders.
Rally participants were chanting "keep the door open,” a door to treatment that mental health advocates said is sometimes closed to those who need help.
“There's a lot of hurting people out there and I'm one of them,” said Charles Green, who suffers from depression and at one point in his life attempted suicide.
“I took 273 pills of my psych medicine all at once, and the doctors called my family from the hospital told them to come up to the hospital to see me because I wasn't going to make it through the night,” Green said.
But after 22 days on life support, he miraculously woke up. That's when he realized he wasn't alone in his battle with mental illness.
“I'm not the only one, everybody out here has a story to tell, a bestseller book inside of them, what they went through and what they're going through. We need each other and help,” he said.
That cry for help was to legislators to pass the Keep the Door Open Act, expanding access to mental health and substance use treatment services for more people like Green and Ebony Johnson.
“I know how hard it is to be able to get resources,” said Johnson who suffers from anxiety, depression and PTSD. “I don't want other people to go through what I'm going through, people getting caught up in the criminal justice system because they can't get mental health services and homeless services. So, I just wanted to make sure people knew there was somebody out here who understands and that legislators can here our voice.”
The Maryland Behavioral Health Coalition, a group made up of more than 40 non-profit organizations, organized the rally. Through several bills, they want to ensure there's adequate funding for behavioral health providers, 24/7 walk-in crisis centers in every county and additional resources to fight Maryland’s opioid epidemic.
Green said misconceptions exist about people suffering from mental health illnesses or substance use disorders, but really, they’re just like anyone else and deserve the same access to health care treatment
“I'd rather shake your hand than make a fist. If you cut me, I bleed just like the next person, we are all the same,” Green said.
Gov. Larry Hogan included a 2 percent increase for behavioral health providers in his proposed budget. While advocates applauded the raise, they also want to make sure each year is accounted for by passing a formula that ties community health provider rates to the consumer price index for medical care in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area.
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