Access to Humane Mental Health Services is an Urgent Need in the United States
About one in four of all families in the U.S. have a member with mental health challenges. Only 30% of African American adults with mental health challenges receive treatment each year compared to the national average of 43%. These are appalling numbers. In June of 2021, 10.7% of U.S. adults said they had seriously considered suicide in the previous 30 days, according to the CDC. That’s more than twice as many as the 4.3% adults who reported having considered suicide in the previous 12 months, in a 2018 survey (see Mental Health, During the COVID-19 Pandemic—United States, June 24–30, 2020). The June 2020 CDC survey also revealed disparities—suicidal thinking was sharply higher among respondents aged 18 to 24 years (25.5%), minority racial/ethnic groups (18.6% among Hispanic respondents and 15.1% among black respondents), and essential workers (21.7%).
There is significant demand for care navigators across the nation
Families are desperate for a knowledgeable guide who is willing to listen, to advise, and who has access to a database of humane services. Some can pay for options privately, others with their medical insurance and some will need access to publicly funded options. GPS navigators are adept at matching individuals to support and services.
There is an Addiction Crisis in North Carolina
Deaths, hospitalizations, and emergency department (ED) visits due to medication or drug overdose, have become a growing public health concern nationally and in North Carolina. Historically, prescription opioids have been a major driver of this epidemic. However, illicit and other prescription drugs are now contributing to this problem in increasing numbers. The majority of overdose deaths now involve illicit opioids like heroin or fentanyl, a synthetic narcotic. The number of overdose deaths involving stimulants is also on the rise.
The numbers are devastating in our state:
The numbers are devastating in our state:
- Five people die from opioid overdoses every day.
- More people die from opioid overdoses than car crashes.
- More than 2,000 North Carolinians died of an opioid overdose in 2017 – a 32 percent increase over the previous year.
- Between 1999 and 2017, more than 13,169 North Carolina residents have lost their lives to unintentional opioid overdoses.
- The number of unintentional opioid overdose deaths in 2017 was nearly 17 times higher than in 1999.
- The number of unintentional opioid overdose deaths has more than doubled in the past decade. (NC State Center for Health Statistics – Vital Statistics- Death certificates; Analysis by Injury Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit)
THE NEED
The need is urgent. A mother catches her daughter cutting, with blood on the bathroom tiles. A son stops talking to friends and family and holes up in his room, searching the dark web for suicide advice. An unstable brother becomes threatening, verbally abusive. A suicidal sister’s program is closed or suspended due to a funding crisis, or a public health emergency, like COVID-19.
Who to call?
When mental health concerns arise, most Americans have no idea where to turn for help. The incident itself is frightening enough—a family disagreement has led to violence; a studious 7th grader inflicts self-harm; a close friend succumbs to opioid abuse. It’s bewildering to discover that there’s no place to go for guidance, for humane, knowledgeable support.
In a recent essay in the New York Times, this issue was highlighted: "The mental health system, for all its caring professionals, is chaotic and complicated to navigate. There are few systemwide standards and vast and hidden differences in quality of care. Good luck finding an authoritative guide to navigating the full range of appropriate options." https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/01/health/mental-health-treatments.html.
The need is widespread and urgent. According to federal estimates, one in five Americans, from rich to poor, will experience a mental health issue in any given year. A quarter of those issues will become severe and chronic. These people often end up in emergency departments (EDs), which are high-cost and poorly suited to provide support, "resulting in long lengths of stay, hospital admissions, and high recidivism rates" (Roberge, JAMA Network).
Consider Sandra, mother of Adam, 21:
Adam is an accomplished musician, having won the statewide contest for saxophone in high school. He began to struggle with depression and anxiety early in college, retreating from friends and his classes, and soon returned home, where his parents were in the middle of a divorce. He got worse, rarely leaving his room. Initially, unbeknownst to his parents, he began drinking and smoking marijuana excessively. During this, he also saw a doctor who prescribed Adderall, which he also began to abuse.
A sense of crisis emerged as he began experiencing rage and reacting to hallucinations. He got into a fistfight with his father. The police were called, and he ended up in an emergency room for evaluation. His parents were able to get him to a well-respected psychiatric unit where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. "Now what?" Sandra thought. "He'll be home soon…where do I even start to find help?”
Or Frank, husband of Sarah, 52:
Sarah has had a diagnosis of bipolar disorder for almost 30 years. She has generally taken her medication and seen her psychiatrist once every three months. Still, she has been in a long and steady decline and reached a point where she seldom leaves home.
Frank, the CEO of a mid-sized company, has to manage the household and his job, doing the shopping, cooking, and cleaning - to the point where he's exhausted. But Sarah is so anxious that he can't give her any suggestions that seem helpful; instead, each idea only amplifies her anxiety. “It’s impossible,” Frank says. "A psychiatrist is already treating her; I need to try something else and soon - but what?"
The U.S. mental health system is such a vast maze of hospitals, community clinics, residential facilities, therapists, public programs, and private - and its language of psychiatric diagnoses is so foreign that people can get lost quickly and often disastrously. About one in four U.S. families have a member with severe mental distress, and fewer than half of those get any care at all, never mind quality care. The rates are even lower for African Americans, with only 30% of those in need receiving any care.
These numbers do not surprise mental health consultants in private practice, of whom there are a scattering across the country. "I have to turn people away every day, it is absolutely heartbreaking," says one of the country’s premier navigators. Sandra and Frank are not ‘anecdotes’ – they’re real people. Millions of others face situations that appear equally hopeless. They’re not. The GPS is here to provide patient, informed guidance, and options.
Who to call?
When mental health concerns arise, most Americans have no idea where to turn for help. The incident itself is frightening enough—a family disagreement has led to violence; a studious 7th grader inflicts self-harm; a close friend succumbs to opioid abuse. It’s bewildering to discover that there’s no place to go for guidance, for humane, knowledgeable support.
In a recent essay in the New York Times, this issue was highlighted: "The mental health system, for all its caring professionals, is chaotic and complicated to navigate. There are few systemwide standards and vast and hidden differences in quality of care. Good luck finding an authoritative guide to navigating the full range of appropriate options." https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/01/health/mental-health-treatments.html.
The need is widespread and urgent. According to federal estimates, one in five Americans, from rich to poor, will experience a mental health issue in any given year. A quarter of those issues will become severe and chronic. These people often end up in emergency departments (EDs), which are high-cost and poorly suited to provide support, "resulting in long lengths of stay, hospital admissions, and high recidivism rates" (Roberge, JAMA Network).
Consider Sandra, mother of Adam, 21:
Adam is an accomplished musician, having won the statewide contest for saxophone in high school. He began to struggle with depression and anxiety early in college, retreating from friends and his classes, and soon returned home, where his parents were in the middle of a divorce. He got worse, rarely leaving his room. Initially, unbeknownst to his parents, he began drinking and smoking marijuana excessively. During this, he also saw a doctor who prescribed Adderall, which he also began to abuse.
A sense of crisis emerged as he began experiencing rage and reacting to hallucinations. He got into a fistfight with his father. The police were called, and he ended up in an emergency room for evaluation. His parents were able to get him to a well-respected psychiatric unit where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. "Now what?" Sandra thought. "He'll be home soon…where do I even start to find help?”
Or Frank, husband of Sarah, 52:
Sarah has had a diagnosis of bipolar disorder for almost 30 years. She has generally taken her medication and seen her psychiatrist once every three months. Still, she has been in a long and steady decline and reached a point where she seldom leaves home.
Frank, the CEO of a mid-sized company, has to manage the household and his job, doing the shopping, cooking, and cleaning - to the point where he's exhausted. But Sarah is so anxious that he can't give her any suggestions that seem helpful; instead, each idea only amplifies her anxiety. “It’s impossible,” Frank says. "A psychiatrist is already treating her; I need to try something else and soon - but what?"
The U.S. mental health system is such a vast maze of hospitals, community clinics, residential facilities, therapists, public programs, and private - and its language of psychiatric diagnoses is so foreign that people can get lost quickly and often disastrously. About one in four U.S. families have a member with severe mental distress, and fewer than half of those get any care at all, never mind quality care. The rates are even lower for African Americans, with only 30% of those in need receiving any care.
These numbers do not surprise mental health consultants in private practice, of whom there are a scattering across the country. "I have to turn people away every day, it is absolutely heartbreaking," says one of the country’s premier navigators. Sandra and Frank are not ‘anecdotes’ – they’re real people. Millions of others face situations that appear equally hopeless. They’re not. The GPS is here to provide patient, informed guidance, and options.
Give us a toll free call or text at 888-672-0365 and talk to a navigator on our hotline. Our service is free! We are nonprofit, independent, and confidential.