For 42 years this organization has been providing mental health services to anyone who needs them, regardless of their ability to pay. It was the brainchild of the local chapter of a national Jewish women’s organization. Back then, it wasn’t easy to get treatment for mental-health issues, according to Joe Kadian, president and chief executive officer.
Kadian was clinical director in the 1980s and has held his current position since 1998.
President John F. Kennedy’s Community Mental Health Act of 1963, which provided funding for services under a nationwide system, shone a spotlight on mental health concerns. It was widely known that the President’s sister, Rosemary, suffered from mental illness, and the Kennedy family later became instrumental in establishing the Special Olympics.
“The manner in which people with serious mental health issues were treated then is very different from today,” Kadian says. “They were generally treated in state hospitals, where they stayed for many years, away from the families they grew up in. The 1963 act changed a lot of that. It provided facilities in communities that would allow for treatment for such things as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.”
Hometown Help
The Bayonne Community Mental Health Center is a “full-service facility that provides services for a wide range of problems,” Kadian says, “from mild reactions to family abuse, school-related problems, anxiety disorder, and depression, to serious and persistent mental health problems, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe depression.”
The center, which serves all of Hudson County, addresses issues shared by the community. A perfect example are people suffering from the effects of Hurricane Sandy. If you go into the BCMHC office, you will see signs and brochures form New Jersey MentalHealthCares that read “We Can Help You Deal with Sandy Stress.”
“I see the impact that these services have on people’s lives,” Kadian says. “Mental health problems can impact one’s life. You don’t have to go far beyond the recent death of Robin Williams to see that, if undetected and untreated, they can lead to catastrophic conclusions. He was a wealthy celebrity suffering from depression. Mental health problems are indeed treatable and should not be left unattended.”
People who work at the center, Kadian says, “help people change their lives in a way that makes them feel better about themselves and more productive.”—Kate Rounds
Bayonne Community Mental Health Center
601 Broadway
(201) 339-9200
bayonnementalhealth.org