Sharing – Facing Down a Mental Health Crisis

This is a really strong statement from the article below. It’s also been true for a long time, not just in the last year.

“In short, we are a nation in a mental health crisis, unprepared to handle the rising tsunami of need for mental health and substance use care.

For over a century, our mental health care system has focused mostly on providing specialist-delivered treatment for a defined illness, episode, or condition, and waited to intervene until people are in crisis. That approach is too narrow to meet the growing burden of emotional damage, distress, and trauma that can lead to disability, premature death, unemployment, and poverty. This burden frays our social ties, attacks our community cohesion, and diminishes our resilience—strengths we need now more than ever. It also falls along fault lines of racial and income inequality, compounding those disadvantages and getting in the way of rebuilding our economy and promoting equity.”

The pandemic and other events have, perhaps, crystalized this reality for people, but let’s not kid ourselves. The lack of available treatment resources for many, many people has been a sad reality for years. Decades even.

Simply finding more therapists isn’t going to cut it. I’d agree with that conclusion from the article, and perhaps some of the ideas shared could help. I don’t know if they will, but I know what we currently do, doesn’t work for too many people.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-guest-room/202101/facing-down-mental-health-crisis