Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
There is no doubt that the pandemic brought a slew of challenges to Duplin County and beyond, and while health professionals saw an increase of people experiencing signs of stress, anxiety, and depression, they also saw a de-stigmatization of mental illnesses and substance use disorders, according to Glenn Simpson, ECU Health Behavioral Health System Service line administrator.
“I think what COVID allowed us to do is to open up the discussions a little bit more regarding behavioral health care, and that it is okay to seek help. That has been a major effort for those of us in the behavioral healthcare industry, and It’s because what we do know is that early intervention and prevention is often key to avoiding folks from getting so ill that they need more acute care or intensive services,” said Simpson.
“Nationally, the data is still indicating one in five adults will suffer from a diagnosable mental illness this year. But anecdotally, some surveys and some polls have indicated that may have gone up. I think it’s too soon, just as far as data collection goes, to be able to really see if it has significantly gone up since COVID.”
In rural areas like Duplin County, a lot of issues can be related to social determinants of health and people taking care of themselves.
“So, folks that are having food insecurities, housing issues, employment issues, etc., are more apt, just kind of in general to become ill and it’s not just with mental illness or substance use,” said Simpson. “It really becomes an access to care… Obviously, some of them would be getting some level of care, but like nationally, most folks aren’t getting the care that they need.”
According to Simpson, one of the main reasons is the stigma, or acknowledging there is a problem. “So, because we have seen mental illness and substance use be categorized in other ways than healthcare or diseases, sometimes people don’t want to talk about it.”
However, there has been an improvement according to Simpson, and it has to do with people talking about it more openly in the media, like celebrities for example.
He emphasized that it is important for folks to be aware and be on the lookout for early signs.
Care is available, although it may not always be easily accessible in rural areas due to distances that may require transportation.
According to the CDC some ethnic minority groups face more challenges getting mental health care. Some of the reasons listed are not having adequate health insurance coverage, language barriers, cost, it can be difficult to find providers from one’s ethnic group, and implicit bias.
“It’s because of what it is, many people hesitate or don’t end up getting the help that they need until it’s in a crisis mode,” Simpson told Duplin Journal, adding that as with any health-related condition it is better to get care sooner rather than later.
“The other thing about mental health and substance use is that it is not socioeconomic specific. So, even though I mentioned social determinants of health play a large factor in that, anybody is susceptible to having a mental illness. What we do know is oftentimes the first signs are in teens and or early 20s. And that is both for substance use and mental illnesses.”
What kind of warning signs should people look for?
“Basically, a change. A change in mood, a change in behaviors, a change in sleep patterns, a change in eating habits, somebody who doesn’t seem themselves — like they used to be, and that being pervasive for more than just a few days. So usually, you know, we think of at least two weeks. And there could be a physical health issue going on.”
Simpson explained that across the industry the healthcare sector is constantly looking for ways to provide folks with improved access to care.
He recommended that a person experiencing symptoms contact their primary care physician as a starting point.
“If somebody doesn’t know who to call or they don’t have primary care, there’s a national hotline called 988, which is a suicide and crisis line that is available across the nation, including North Carolina and anybody can call there and can be anonymous and just explain what’s going on. And that’s either about the person themselves, or maybe they are calling about a loved one, a co-worker or somebody that they care about.”
Simpson shared that oftentimes hospitals, especially emergency departments, are the safety net, for all kinds of healthcare conditions with behavioral health and substance use, not being any different than that.
“So, what we do in those facilities is provide assessment and make a determination on next steps if treatment is indicated. … In the smaller communities, an influx of folks coming to the ED can be a little overwhelming at that point in time, but all of the facilities have mechanisms in place to at least assess and work on the next steps if somebody ends up in the emergency department with some related issue to behavioral health or substance use.”
“The mobile crisis teams throughout the state work very closely with local government officials, managed care organizations, and they are available to go out in the community… People don’t realize that a mobile crisis is an option, “ said Simpson.
“One of the things that we’re doing at ECU Health to assist with that is we are building a state-of-the-art psychiatric hospital, 144 beds, planned to open in Greenville summer of 2025, so a little bit more than a year away, and this will increase our inpatient psychiatric bed capacity in our region to more than what we have today. That doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s all that is needed, but it is a great step in the right direction for those people that need inpatient level of care, and what I will tell you is that even though we’ve seen, you know, I’ve mentioned one in five folks have a diagnosable mental illness in any given year, adults, the majority of folks do not need hospitalization. That’s the good news.”
“Hospitalization is for somebody often that has a serious mental illness, and from a population standpoint that’s usually a fairly small percentage, or somebody that’s had some sort of life event, some tragedy in their life, and, you know, becomes very depressed or something like that, or in some cases related to substance use where somebody needs some services to help get off the drug or get detox and that kind of thing.”
“Sometimes those people that are suffering with an illness or substance use issue aren’t going to just reach out on their own,” said Simpson, adding that calling a local primary care provider, or 988 will put you in the right direction.
