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Health worries, isolation, economic concerns drive increase in mental health care requests

Wisconsin State Journal - 5/30/2021

May 30—The public health, economic and racial justice crises over the past year fueled an increase in people seeking mental health services, straining Madison's public health system as it tries to accommodate new patients.

Isolation, job losses and economic uncertainty are major causes for more patients seeking services, UW Health director of behavioral health services Beth Lonergan said. Others, particularly people of color, have sought treatment following the death of George Floyd and the protests over police brutality and racial injustice, said Myra McNair, executive director of Anesis Therapy.

People did not immediately seek help, Lonergan said, but the surge in requests began around the start of this year with about a 40% increase in demand for services compared to the previous year.

"At first, staying at home and having to adhere to all these limits on our life doesn't feel as difficult," Lonergan said. "As time wears on, I think people get worn down."

Even though UW Health has hired more providers, such as therapists and counselors, this past year, the system is still overtaxed and not able to meet with every patient that makes a request, Lonergan said. As a result, the number of actual appointments has only increased 10%.

Anesis, a private mental health center in Madison, has also been unable to keep up with the number of referrals and requests for counseling, McNair said. The therapy waitlist is more than 100 names long.

Many of Anesis' clients are people of color, many of whom were deeply affected by the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, the protests that followed and further police shootings of Black people last year, McNair said. The high-profile nature of those events and the heated debate around police accountability could be stressful and traumatizing.

"It's been so in our face with event after event after event," McNair said.

Anesis, which employs many people of color on staff, closed for a few days after Floyd's death so the staff could process their own grief, McNair said.

The pandemic highlighted the importance of mental health care, McNair said.

"I hope that the pandemic has shown, out of a lot of other things it's shown us, is that our mental health is really serious," McNair said. "I really hope that it doesn't get forgotten about."

Mental health providers also contended with a shift to an online care model.

"It's been a very trying year, and I've been amazed at the resilience of our providers," Lonergan said. "They're also juggling things like having kids, trying to do school from home and all those other things that are making life really challenging."

To help with the burden on staff, Anesis assistant director Debie Evans said counselors and all staff were still encouraged to use all of their paid time off. The center also held socially distanced events for staff as well as get-togethers over video calls to lift spirits, particularly during the winter holiday season.

"It was very difficult. A lot of people couldn't do their traditional visits with family and dinners," Evans said. "We wanted to make space to have some joy."

As the pandemic continues — even though there is hope in the future with the vaccine rollout — Lonergan said there are some basic things people can do to improve or maintain their mental health, such as exercising and eating healthfully.

To mitigate the effects of isolation, Lonergan said people with the available technology should try to meet or gather with others through online platforms, such as video calls.

"It's not the same, but you can get creative with things like that," Lonergan said. Many people have taken up book clubs, happy hours and other gatherings from their living rooms by using video calls like Zoom.

Not all people struggling through the pandemic may feel the need to or want to see a therapist or other mental health provider, so the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health provides resources on mental health at psychiatry.wisc.edu.

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