Sharing – New study shows the top healthcare issue in rural America is mental health and addiction
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Sharing – New study shows the top healthcare issue in rural America is mental health and addiction

ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

There have been some efforts to make health care more accessible in rural areas, but I’m not sure that we’ve done nearly as much when it comes to mental health and addiction treatment. I’ve read too many stories of people needing to travel 100 miles or more to see a therapist, or get a prescription for medication, let alone finding a rehab clinic with an opening. Throw in a system that too often forgets that they exist, or uses them as pawns in power grabs instead of trying to meet the needs of these communities, and it’s no wonder that many would be feeling helpless in the face of addiction and mental health issues.

Houston Landing Series on Deadly Detention

Houston Landing Series on Deadly Detention

ByMikeM Reading Time: 3 minutes

That’s a problem. Building more jails isn’t going to solve it. Creating processes that help identify inmates with mental health issues but not the resources to immediately get them into treatment isn’t helping either. The numbers will just get higher. The only thing that will help is getting more resources to the people who need them. But we don’t. I believe the biggest reason we don’t is that we don’t see homeless people with mental health issues who run into legal problems as people who are worth the effort.

When it Comes to Mental Health Finances Matter

When it Comes to Mental Health Finances Matter

ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

What we see there is that mental health problems can create debt. When we cannot work, our healthcare costs skyrocket, and we can find ourselves in a poor financial situation. That poor financial situation creates more stress and emotional labor, contributing to mental health issues.

Whether the mental health problem or financial struggle came first doesn’t matter. Once we are in the cycle, it will continue round and round.

That’s what cycles do.

Sharing – On the Mental Health Conversation

Sharing – On the Mental Health Conversation

ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

I love the fact that her boss was just honest about his mental health issues, and the fact that he took antidepressants, and how much difference that made it her own ability to talk about mental health. Simply put, this has to be what we do. All of us who advocate for more mental health conversation, awareness, and resources, need to create a space where anyone, everyone, can share their own stories, and advocate for their own care, without fear of being judged for needing it.

What I learned from my husband’s suicide | Lori Prichard

What I learned from my husband’s suicide | Lori Prichard

ByMikeM Reading Time: 3 minutes

I saw this talk shared the other day and bookmarked it to go back and watch later. It’s a powerful talk given by Lori Prichard about her husband’s suicide. If you’ve not lived with depression, or lived close to someone dealing with it, you may have a hard time relating, but I want you to try, because I know how accurate this is. I’ve been depressed. I’ve lived with that bully inside of my own brain that told me every day how much better off people would be without me, and I managed to hide it and downplay it so that most people didn’t know anything was wrong at all, or as Lori put it, they let me get away with talking them out of any concerns.