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Tag: mental health care

  • Recent School Shooting-Related Suicides Highlight Need For Survivor Care

    Recent School Shooting-Related Suicides Highlight Need For Survivor Care

    Two survivors of the Parkland school shooting have died by suicide since the tragic event.

    A second death by suicide by a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting reportedly occurred on Saturday, March 23—one week after another student, 19-year-old Sydney Aiello, died by suicide.

    Her mother said that Aiello suffered from PTSD and survivor’s guilt following the deadly mass shooting that occurred in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018, and ended with 17 people dead.

    One week after Aiello’s death, another report of a suicide death surfaced, this time by a yet unidentified 16-year-old boy. This took place one day before the one-year anniversary of the international March For Our Lives protests that were organized by students to demand action against gun violence.

    Ryan Petty, a parent who lost his daughter in the Parkland shooting, alluded to this second suicide death by posting “17 + 2” with a broken heart emoji on Twitter. He told The New York Times that those close to the shooting survivors have been fearing these tragedies.

    “What we feared could happen is happening,” he said.

    In the wake of this second suicide, the American Association of Suicidology (AAS) issued a press release inviting those who are grieving and anyone else at risk to reach out to them, as well as urging Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and other institutions to properly care for survivors of mass shootings and similar traumas. 

    “Youth involved in traumatic experiences are often at higher risk for a number of mental health issues, including experiences of suicidal thoughts,” the memo reads. “In the United States, youth aged 10-24 are already at especially high risk for suicide, which is the second leading cause of death for this age range.”

    AAS also warns readers about the phenomenon of suicide contagion in which simply hearing about another suicide, especially one that is reported on by national news, can increase the risk of further suicide deaths. Those vulnerable to suicide, such as other school shooting survivors, may need extra care during this time.

    “The Parkland survivors have been heroes in their advocacy efforts since the tragedy, but the deaths of these students are a sobering reminder that they are not only young advocates, but also trauma victims and gun violence loss survivors,” said AAS Firearms and Suicide Committee co-chair Michael Anestis.

    In addition to the two Parkland students, the father of one of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 died by suicide Monday morning. Jeremy Richman, 49, was a neuroscientist and co-founder of The Avielle Foundation, a non-profit named for his late daughter. In a statement, the foundation called Richman a “champion father” and vowed to keep his mission alive.

    “Jeremy’s mission will be carried on by the many who love him, including many who share the heartache and trauma that he has suffered since December 14, 2012,” the statement reads. “We are crushed to pieces, but this important work will continue, because, as Jeremy would say, we have to.”

    If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or Text HOME to 741741. If you think someone is in immediate danger, do not leave them alone, stay with them and call 911.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Mental Health Care Access Remains An Obstacle For Inmates

    Mental Health Care Access Remains An Obstacle For Inmates

    Across the country, facilities are struggling to provide the care needed for inmates with mental health issues.

    For inmates like Ashoor Rasho, who has been diagnosed with severe depression, schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder, seeking help for mental health issues while incarcerated proves difficult. 

    “Even if they would label us schizophrenic or bipolar, we would still be considered behavioral problems,” Rasho tells NPR. “So the only best thing for them to do was keep us isolated. Or they heavily medicate you.”

    Rasho’s sentence, according to NPR, was extended numerous times due to him assaulting prison staff after being set off by various triggers. 

    In 2007, Rasho was among 12,000 other inmates who sued the Illinois Department of Corrections for not adequately treating those with mental health diagnoses, and instead punishing them.

    In 2016, the case reached a settlement and the state decided to re-assess and improve its mental health care. 

    Even so, NPR reports that a federal judge maintains that such care is still “grossly insufficient” and “extremely poor.” 

    The issue isn’t just in Illinois. Across the country, correctional facilities are struggling to provide the care needed for inmates with mental health issues. State and federal prison data from 2011 through 2012 indicated that about 40% of inmates have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder, yet only about half of those were received medication or counseling. 

    In Illinois specifically, providing adequate care has been a central area of struggle.

    “Corrections in Illinois was a little slow to recognize we are the mental health system for Illinois,” John Baldwin, director of the state’s corrections department, tells NPR. “Whether we want to be or not, we are; and we have to start acting like it.”

    According to Baldwin, change is in motion. He says that since he started in his position in 2015, more mental health staff has been hired and training has been implemented. He says most of the state’s inmates spend about eight hours per day outside their cells and see a therapist weekly.

    He also notes that around 765 of the inmates with the most serious diagnoses have been moved to a residential facility for treatment.

    The Joliet Treatment Center, located southwest of Chicago, is one of the prison facilities making strides in such care. A few years back, the prior youth detention center underwent a $17 million renovation to become the current mental health treatment facility for inmates. 

    Warden Andrea Tack tells NPR that inmates at Joliet dedicate about 30 hours weekly to activities and individual treatment plans. 

    Alan Mills, one of the attorneys from the 2007 lawsuit, says he has witnessed some transformations in inmates in such facilities. 

    “And it’s a difficult transition,” he tells NPR, “because you’ve been treated in a place where you’re continually traumatized, and then you get to a place where actually people care about you.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • For Millennials, Accessing Mental Health Care Is A Major Issue

    For Millennials, Accessing Mental Health Care Is A Major Issue

    The high cost of mental health care and a lack of mental health availability make it harder for millennials in need.

    Aishia Correll, 27, grew up in a world where therapy was not an option. So, when the Philadelphia woman began struggling with her mental health, she turned to painting instead. 

    But now, Correll tells The Bristol Herald Courier, she is a health care strategist and is working to increase access and affordability for mental health care, especially for millennials, women of color and the LGBTQIA community – all of whom are in desperate need of increased access.

    According to a 2018 survey by the American Psychological Association, millennials and Generation Z are at a higher likelihood of rating their mental health as fair or poor in comparison to other generations. In the same survey, millennials were found to have the highest stress levels of all generations. 

    However, the survey also revealed that millennials and other young adults were more likely to seek out professional mental health care than older generations. In fact, over one-third of millennials and Generation Z said they were receiving treatment or therapy from a mental health professional.

    The Bristol Herald Courier also reports that since 2014, millennials have continually reported the highest stress levels. In Philadelphia specifically, one barrier to treatment is not having health insurance. According to a Pew report from 2014, 22% of those ages 18-34 in Philadelphia had no health insurance. 

    Jennifer Schwartz, inaugural director of Drexel University’s Psychological Services Center and an associate professor in the department of psychology, tells The Bristol Herald Courier that without insurance, therapy can cost anywhere from $75 to $200 for one session.

    At Drexel, Schwartz states, patients are offered a sliding scale price that is based on income, and services are provided by doctoral students.

    “We have a large demand for our services, bigger than we could possibly provide,” Schwartz said. “We do get people who call us and are upset by the lack of services that they’ve been able to locate and access.”

    According to executive director of the Black Women’s Health Alliance, Brenda Shelton-Dunston, this issue is even bigger for millennial women of color.

    “There is a void in mental-health availability and access to mental-health prevention and support services for women of color in Philadelphia,” she told The Herald Courier.

    According to Correll, one solution could be services focused on millennials and located in the right areas. 

    In the meantime, she is continuing to turn to art as a means of therapy and is hoping to provide a space for others to do the same through her creation of a “healing” art gallery in North Philadelphia. 

    “I didn’t see that my family had a place like that,” she said. “I want to make sure I have a place like that.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Inadequate Mental Health Treatment Hinders Massachusetts Residents

    Inadequate Mental Health Treatment Hinders Massachusetts Residents

    Only about 50% of Massachusetts mental health providers accept payment from the state and federal Medicaid program. Private insurance isn’t much better.

    Patients in Massachusetts are struggling to receive adequate mental health care but not because of lack of insurance coverage. 

    The Boston Globe reports that based on a new Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation survey of 2,201 residents, more than half recently sought mental health or substance use disorder treatment but had difficulty receiving such treatment.

    Of those surveyed, 39% went without treatment altogether and about 13% resorted to an emergency room visit even though about half of those admitted that their care was not an emergency. 

    Though insured, the majority of patients struggled to find care because certain providers did not take their insurance or because practices were not accepting new clients at the time. 

    In October, the Globe reported that Massachusetts was home to more mental health care providers per capita than any other US state. It also has more psychiatrists than any other state, with the exception of Washington, DC, and more child psychiatrists than all states but Rhode Island and DC. 

    Even so, residents of the state are struggling. According to The Globe, only about 50% of Massachusetts providers accept payment from the state and federal Medicaid program. And private insurance isn’t much better, as only about half the psychiatrists in the Northeast accept it. 

    Audrey Shelto, president of the foundation that conducted the survey, told The Globe that this was the first time since the survey began a decade ago that it asked about mental health and substance use disorder treatment access.  

    “If change is going to happen at the magnitude that’s needed, it’s going to be necessary that we start building a more solid evidence base,” Shelto said.

    According to Shelto and others in the field, one possible solution would be paying psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers more, because private insurers and Medicaid currently do not pay them enough. Those in the practice also spend a great deal of time on applications for insurance networks as well as paperwork for patient treatment. 

    According to The Globe, Health and Human Services has stated that between 2016 and 2020, Medicaid is increasing fees to mental health providers by $100 million. 

    But Vic DiGravio, president of the Association for Behavioral Healthcare in Natick, told The Globe this isn’t enough to convince more providers to join the program. 

    DiGravio adds that access to prescribers such as psychiatrists are one of the biggest battles being faced currently. 

    “For a clinic to have a doctor on staff to see patients on a regular basis, the rates don’t cover their time,” he said.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • People With Depression Miss Fewer Days In Supportive Workplaces

    People With Depression Miss Fewer Days In Supportive Workplaces

    Researchers examined workplace policies and even varying gross domestic product for a recent global study on working with depression.

    People with depression miss fewer days of work if they are employed somewhere that supports them in their illness, a new study has found. 

    The study, published in The British Medical Journal, looked at workers in 15 countries. It found that workers with self-reported depression who have managers who support and assist them miss fewer days of work, lessening the economic impact of their disease.  

    “Working in an environment where managers felt comfortable to offer help and support to the employee rather than avoid them was independently associated with less absenteeism and more presenteeism,” the authors concluded. 

    Supportive workplaces might have formal policies for handling mental health issues, time-off policies that allow for mental health episodes, or a system for referring people to mental health care. All of these can result in fewer missed days of work and therefore a lower economic impact of depression. 

    “We know that supportive managers and workplace practices are associated with greater openness and disclosure, in addition to more positive attitudes towards employees with depression,” the study authors write. 

    In addition to looking at differing workplace policies, the study authors looked at differences in support for depression in countries with varying gross domestic product (GDP). In countries with lower GDPs, people with depression were more likely to miss days of work, possibly because there are fewer resources available than in countries with higher GDPs. 

    “Country contextual factors such as country GDP and financial resources can also influence the availability of support and potential for investment,” authors wrote.

    While this might be expected, study authors found that managers’ reactions to employees with depression were “at least as important” as a country’s GDP in predicting how often the employee would miss work. 

    Researchers also examined how social pressures impacted employees’ presence at work. They found that employees with depression were less likely to disclose their condition in Asian countries compared with Western countries, likely because of stigma around mental health in those places. 

    “Workplace policies and practices are likely to reflect broader sociocultural attitudes and beliefs about mental health and societal values about investment in prevention and support for people with mental health problems,” authors wrote.

    “This may influence workplace culture in relation to openness and comfort in discussing mental health issues. Previous research has shown that a cultural context which is more open and accepting of mental illness is associated with higher rates of help-seeking, antidepressant use and empowerment.”

    View the original article at thefix.com