Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line 10-22-2026: Andy Jackson on mental health screenings, prescription abuse

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Talk Line 10-22-2026: Andy Jackson on mental health screenings, prescription abuse · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey there, Waking Crew 816 on your Thursday morning, and
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: it's time for your first dose of TalkLine. And I'm
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  Speaker 1: joined again once more by our good friends from Sinissippi
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  Speaker 1: Center's Andy Jackson in the studio this morning. Sir, how
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: are you? Good. Good. Man, I wish we could do
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: a whole episode of what we were talking about before
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: up here with those cars and the cool rides. We'll
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: have to get you to talk about that at some point.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: I'm sure they would love free advertising. The company that...
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  Speaker 2: that runs that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but it sounds like such a fun time. But
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  Speaker 1: you're in here to share some very important information. Now,
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  Speaker 1: this is something that is seven days a week, 24-7
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  Speaker 1: for Sinissippi Centers, but National Depression and Mental Health Screening
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  Speaker 1: Month and Depression Awareness. Again, something that never stops for
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  Speaker 1: you folks, but something that people really need to to
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  Speaker 1: take time, stop and really ponder on.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: And October is depression awareness month. Uh, one in five
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  Speaker 2: Americans have a diagnosable mental illness. So that's 20%. And
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  Speaker 2: like in other diseases, you know, you want early detection, uh,
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  Speaker 2: you want early treatment as, as fast as you can
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  Speaker 2: get to it. And so, uh, because October is depression
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  Speaker 2: awareness month, that's why it's also national depression and mental
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  Speaker 2: health screening month, uh, because screening is important. So just
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  Speaker 2: like any, any disease health screening gives you, um, Early
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  Speaker 2: warning signs, hopefully, if you're screening early enough. That's a
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  Speaker 2: quick and easy way to spot the first signs of
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  Speaker 2: a serious illness. And if you're doing screenings, maybe you're
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  Speaker 2: not aware yet. Usually, I think you are, but maybe
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  Speaker 2: you're not aware yet that something's going on. You take
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  Speaker 2: a screening and you figure out, hey, something's going on
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  Speaker 2: that I need to pay attention to. And that's where
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  Speaker 2: that early screening comes in. So it's something that's a
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  Speaker 2: good idea.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. And, you know, you got a good point. I
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  Speaker 1: think most folks are aware. But until you start taking
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  Speaker 1: that step to actually say, like, let's get this figured out.
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  Speaker 1: What is this? What could I be doing? A lot
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  Speaker 1: of folks will it's too easy for them to chalk
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  Speaker 1: it up and just say, well. I must be going
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  Speaker 1: through a thing or this is just how it is.
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  Speaker 1: It can be. Yeah, I think this is just how
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  Speaker 1: it is would almost actually be the worst answer.
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  Speaker 2: One feature of mental illness is a feeling of isolation
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  Speaker 2: that nobody understands. Nobody else is going through this. And
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  Speaker 2: so it tends to, isolation tends to be a symptom
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  Speaker 2: of mental illnesses. And so you get to that, you
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  Speaker 2: get that feeling too of, well, it's just me or
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  Speaker 2: it's just something. It's just, you know. So I think
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  Speaker 2: you raise a good point there.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's just something that being proactive now that
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  Speaker 1: we're in an age where this is something that continues
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  Speaker 1: to expand. Unfortunately, mental health used to be part of
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  Speaker 1: the dark ages in society, and now, thankfully, it's exploded
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  Speaker 1: and keeps going on. But that's why it's important to
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  Speaker 1: treat this the same way that you would with your
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  Speaker 1: physical health. Absolutely. It's just like getting a checkup, am
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  Speaker 1: I wrong?
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  Speaker 2: It is just like getting a checkup. And we never
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  Speaker 2: want to get a checkup and hear that we have
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  Speaker 2: a chronic disease, but if somebody has one, we want
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  Speaker 2: to be able to treat that as soon as possible,
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  Speaker 2: whatever that chronic illness is. And even though October 8th
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  Speaker 2: was the actual official screening day this year that they designate,
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  Speaker 2: any day is a good day to screen, especially for depression,
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  Speaker 2: which is one of the more common mental illnesses that
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  Speaker 2: people have, and serious depression. So you can take a
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  Speaker 2: free confidential online screening. So free and confidential, I want
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  Speaker 2: to emphasize that again. So that's pretty big. You can
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  Speaker 2: take it for yourself, of course, but if you know
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  Speaker 2: enough information about a loved one that maybe you want
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  Speaker 2: to encourage to get into treatment, you can take it
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  Speaker 2: in their place as well. Visit the website, synasipi.org. Go
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  Speaker 2: to our links page. Click on the link under screening tools.
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  Speaker 2: It's pretty high on the top of the page there.
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  Speaker 2: You'll see it. And once you take the screen, you'll
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  Speaker 2: get some suggestions of what the next steps are. It's
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  Speaker 2: not a diagnosis, but it is a direction to go
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  Speaker 2: in and what can you do to address those symptoms,
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  Speaker 2: or maybe, you know, those symptoms that you're having are
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  Speaker 2: temporary and it's not something that necessarily needs treated by
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  Speaker 2: a mental health professional, or at least not on a
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  Speaker 2: long-term basis. So it's a good idea to do it.
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  Speaker 2: And again, it's free and confidential and online.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. And you have to start somewhere and that's a
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  Speaker 1: really good place at least to begin. And then from there,
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  Speaker 1: they'll be able to lead you where you need to go.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: So You know, also a good point speaking on this
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  Speaker 1: National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month and this is an unfortunate thing,
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  Speaker 1: but also just as important.
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  Speaker 2: Still an issue. Still technically an epidemic across the United States.
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  Speaker 2: And that behavior often begins during teen and young adult years,
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  Speaker 2: as we know. So just like any substance usage, I
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  Speaker 2: believe the average age of first use now is probably
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  Speaker 2: somewhere around nine years old. I haven't actually, I'll admit,
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  Speaker 2: I haven't checked on that stat for a while, but
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  Speaker 2: I think it's been creeping a little bit younger and younger.
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  Speaker 2: So it might even be as early as as young
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  Speaker 2: as eight years old. So it begins early. So we
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  Speaker 2: have to have those conversations with our teens. But one
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  Speaker 2: in four teens report having misused or abused a prescription
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  Speaker 2: drug at least once in their lifetime. That's 25 percent.
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  Speaker 2: So that I think that's a significant figure.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Two-thirds of those teens who report abusive prescription pain relievers
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  Speaker 2: are getting them from friends, family, acquaintances. Generic term, I
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  Speaker 2: just call it from the home medicine cabinet. But it
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  Speaker 2: is coming from the home. It's not like a street
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  Speaker 2: drug kind of thing. It's because those medicines can be
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  Speaker 2: readily available, so they're in the home. Nearly 80% of
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  Speaker 2: people who inject heroin start first by abusing prescription drugs,
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  Speaker 2: most likely the opioids, but maybe there's some other avenues
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  Speaker 2: to that. And so it is very important to keep
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  Speaker 2: an eye on this issue and know what to do
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  Speaker 2: and know that our teens and even adults, because they're
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  Speaker 2: prescription drugs and they're prescribed, don't see the behavior as risky.
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  Speaker 2: But taking a medicine that's not your own is not
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  Speaker 2: only potentially dangerous, it's also illegal. So there could be
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  Speaker 2: some legal liabilities there. So that's important to know as well,
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  Speaker 2: because Who wants to have legal issues? I certainly don't,
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  Speaker 2: and that's one deterrent to maybe doing this. But I
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  Speaker 2: think your health is a lot more important, of course,
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  Speaker 2: but that's another deterrent that possibly we could look at
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  Speaker 2: and say, hey, I don't really want to get into that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, whatever stops it before it becomes a thing is better.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll take it.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Are there any kind of maybe signs parents might
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  Speaker 1: be looking out for or anything like that that could
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  Speaker 1: kind of help them?
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  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, one of the big signs is in light
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  Speaker 2: of what I said about the home medicine, quote unquote,
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  Speaker 2: the home medicine cabinet being the main source, monitor those medicines.
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  Speaker 2: And if you have an unused prescription, so if you
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  Speaker 2: notice pills are missing, you know something's going on, right?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: And maybe you thought, well, I thought I counted eight,
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  Speaker 2: but it was seven. But if more are missing or
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  Speaker 2: you kind of see a pattern, hey, there's more missing
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  Speaker 2: now than there was before, dispose of those medicines if
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  Speaker 2: you're not using them. If they are yours and you're
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  Speaker 2: actively using them, just keep an accurate count of how
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  Speaker 2: many you have if you suspect somebody in the house
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  Speaker 2: might be taking them from you. So that's one way.
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  Speaker 2: Normal signs that you look for, changes in behavior, changes
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  Speaker 2: in clothing, changes in friends, lack of interest in activities.
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  Speaker 2: If somebody is actively using a substance and it's affecting
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  Speaker 2: their life, those are some of the things that you
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  Speaker 2: can look for. And you can look those symptoms up.
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  Speaker 2: But yeah, I would say definitely dispose of those medicines properly.
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  Speaker 2: There's ample opportunity to do so. I think a lot
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  Speaker 2: of police departments will take them. I believe pharmacies may
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  Speaker 2: take them and have disposal locations. Sometimes there are still
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  Speaker 2: take-back days, I think. So yeah, those are some of
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  Speaker 2: the things you can do. And the ones you need
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  Speaker 2: to watch out for most, particularly for our teens, are
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  Speaker 2: the painkillers, the depressants like sleeping pills or anti-anxiety drugs,
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  Speaker 2: and the stimulants, particularly ADHD. Those are the top three
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  Speaker 2: that are kind of taken and abused, misused. So those
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  Speaker 2: are the ones you look out for in particular, but
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  Speaker 2: they're not the only ones. Over-the-counter medicine is still, misuse
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  Speaker 2: is still a thing and you have to watch for
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  Speaker 2: that as well, particularly cold medicines because of if there's
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  Speaker 2: any alcohol content in them or something like that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. Some of those, you'll see some of those
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  Speaker 1: behind the pharmacist counter there. But like you said, others,
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  Speaker 1: if they're taking enough of them, and again, you would
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  Speaker 1: think your physical health would be enough because you're not
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  Speaker 1: supposed to be taking these things that way. So there's
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  Speaker 1: really no proper guideline for overdosing yourself on this medicine
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  Speaker 1: in the pursuit of something that's not good for you.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that is the most important one because, you know,
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  Speaker 2: it's not hype, but injury and even death. You know,
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  Speaker 2: worse side effects than if it was normally prescribed can
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  Speaker 2: be a problem. And even death has resulted from misuse
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  Speaker 2: of prescription drugs. So there is a big risk there.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. And then teens commonly, too, mixing alcohol with these things,
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  Speaker 1: you know, because alcohol is usually the common thing that
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  Speaker 1: teens first get to kind of get into trouble with
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  Speaker 1: and access it. But as you mentioned, the home medicine
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  Speaker 1: cabinet kind of now being a more readily available thing.
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  Speaker 1: And then you hear these. that just kind of pushes
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  Speaker 1: up the risk for something really bad or fatal to happen.
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  Speaker 2: And a feature of misuse might be taking more than
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  Speaker 2: the dosage to get more of the effect. But then again, hey,
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  Speaker 2: that's dangerous. So the side effects can also increase. And
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  Speaker 2: toxicity of the medicine at higher doses, especially based on
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  Speaker 2: weight or any of those factors, yeah.
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  Speaker 1: If anybody... know, maybe is suspecting this is a thing
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  Speaker 1: that's going on, is there any maybe suggested ways to
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  Speaker 1: start getting somebody help, getting them introduced over to Cinesipi?
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  Speaker 1: Should they maybe call you guys first before?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think one place to go that's great at first,
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  Speaker 2: just for general educational purposes is, is stopmedicineabuse.org. But certainly
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  Speaker 2: if you think that you have an issue with misusing
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  Speaker 2: prescription drugs and might need treatment, putting a call into
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  Speaker 2: Cinesipi is a great way to go. So for absolutely sure.
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  Speaker 2: So substance use treatment services are available at Cinesipi at
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  Speaker 2: all of our offices. And just making that call could
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  Speaker 2: be a good idea.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Give them, give them a call no matter what
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  Speaker 1: it is. Maybe you need your mental health screen and
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  Speaker 1: it's overdue. You've never done about it before. Uh, it'd
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  Speaker 1: be a good place to start. Anything else you want
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  Speaker 1: to share this morning, Andy?
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  Speaker 2: No, I just, uh, thank you for the opportunity to
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  Speaker 2: talk to the audience and, um, and, uh, you know,
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  Speaker 2: bring some more light to these. And, uh, if you
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: want more information in general, uh, Sinissippi has a great
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  Speaker 2: links page on our website on all kinds of topics. And, uh,
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  Speaker 2: that is sinissippi.org. Uh, we have, uh, Our YouTube channel
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: is more of what I refer to as a video
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: links page. We've kind of curated some videos there on
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: some topics. And you can go there and watch videos.
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  Speaker 2: If you're like me, I kind of like learning by video.
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  Speaker 2: So if you want to call us, the number is 815-284-6611.
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  Speaker 1: Head on over to the website. Get some information. Better yet,
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  Speaker 1: give them a call. Get those services started today. Andy,
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  Speaker 1: thank you again for stopping in.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: And for all the hard work you guys do making
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  Speaker 1: sure that we are not a rural desert when it
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: comes to mental health care, we appreciate you all.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: Appreciate it.