Mental healthcare IS healthcare!

mental healthcare

California just implemented the strongest mental healthcare law in the entire United States. At a time when anxiety, depression, loneliness, and PTSD are on the rise, such legislation is urgent. However, health insurance companies remain intent on raking in profits without doling out help, constantly putting greed above the health of people who pay for coverage.

That’s why we’re asking all 49 other U.S. states to pass similar laws to California and expand mental healthcare access and services. Sign the petition if you agree!

It’s part of a movement toward what’s known as “mental health parity,” the ideal standard in which mental health conditions are treated with the same level of care and seriousness as physical health conditions. Under California’s previous parity law, health insurance companies could deny financial coverage for mental healthcare willy nilly. Families were pushed into debt and bankruptcy trying to access and afford treatment. Lives were disrupted. Relationships were ruined. All this so a few (usually rich old white men) at the top of the corporate ladder can keep getting richer at the expense of others.

Learn more and see the petition: https://www.thepetitionsite.com/319/683/906/?TAP=1129

The foregoing is excerpted from a post at Care2.com, “the world’s largest community for good… where you’ll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.”: https://www.care2.com/

Conversation About Our Mental Health Crisis

“To better understand the ramifications of the global pandemic on the hearts and minds of humans everywhere,” Doctor Mike speaks with Dr. Ali Mattu and Dr. Tarun Dua in this 21-minute video for both healthcare professionals and the general public.

“COVID-19’s impact on the globe can’t be understated and, while the vaccine has dramatically reduced the spread of the virus in nations that are lucky enough to have access, the global toll on our mental health, vaccinated or not, will be felt for years to come.” – Doctor Mike Varshavski (family medicine)

With over 13 million social media followers, Dr. Mikhail Varshavski, commonly known as “Doctor Mike,” is a board-certified family medicine physician, media personality, educator, writer, and philanthropist.

See: doctormikemedia.com

Ali M. Mattu, Ph.D.: Dr. Ali Mattu creates mental health and psychology media that’s fun, easy to understand, and free.

See: https://alimattu.com/

Loop: Dr. Ali Mattu is also the director of mental health at Loop, a startup making self-care social through small group real time audio hangouts. Loop is a new way to manage personal challenges and anxieties through a fun, safe, live audio, clinically-backed experience. Loop is designed to be a safe place to talk about hard things. Think of looping as exercise for your emotional health.

See: https://www.loop.co/

Dr. Tarun Dua, Head of Brain Health, WHO: Dr. Tarun Dua is a medical officer working on the Program for Neurological Diseases and Neuroscience, Management of Mental and Brain Disorders in the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at the World Health Organization.

Mental Health TV Series by Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey

New docu-series featuring honest discussions about mental and emotional health, including trauma, abuse, and depression, plus where and how we go from here… No one needs to heal alone. By caring for each other, communities shape a powerful route to sustainable recovery. The road to recovery is not a straight line. Challenges are inevitable; hope for each of us is found in awareness, acceptance, and action.

Millions of people around the world struggle with mental illness in silence. In order to heal, that silence must be broken – and now is the time. The pain, suffering, and urgent need for help is universal. A simple act of sharing can be a powerful first step. Mental and emotional health is about people, not patients. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to getting the right help.

“The Me You Can’t See” is a new docu-series co-created by Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry that explores mental health and emotional well-being with stories from people around the world. With storytelling at its core, this timely series gives a voice to stories that seek truth, understanding, and compassion. It’s about people, our experiences, and why we feel the way we do.

See: https://apple.co/_TheMeYouCantSee

#TheMeYouCantSee

7 Ways to Detox Your Emotional Well Being

“Emotional health is an important part of overall health. It means you are aware of your emotions. You can deal with them, whether they are positive or negative. Emotionally healthy people still feel stress, anger, and sadness. But they know how to manage their negative feelings. However, burnout is a real thing too. In this video, we share 7 ways you can detox your emotional well being. Hope you find these tips helpful! Share it with someone who might need this.” – Writer: Catherine Huang, Psych2Go

Psych2Go “hopes to raise awareness about mental health and create a safe space that allows for open communication to those who are struggling in life, so we can learn to cope together.”

See: https://psych2go.net/

6 Habits That Destroy Your Emotional Well-Being

“Emotional well-being refers to the emotional quality of our experiences… Stressed out and overwhelmed? Not sure if you’re falling into bad habits that hurt you and destroy your chances of finding lasting contentment? These habits tend to fly beneath our radars because we’re unaware of the damage they do to our mental health, such as the increased risk of depression and anxiety. So, to help you take your power back and stop this negative cycle, we’ve made this video to help you recognize some of the habits that may destroy your emotional wellbeing.” – Writer: Michal Mitchell, Psych2Go

Psych2Go “hopes to raise awareness about mental health and create a safe space that allows for open communication to those who are struggling in life, so we can learn to cope together.”

See: https://psych2go.net/

Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Hotline

NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, reminds us, “One call can save a life. But when a person in a mental health crisis has to find a local phone number or a ten-digit Lifeline number, precious minutes—and even the resolve to get help—can be lost.”

That’s why NAMI and others are advocating for an easy-to-access 3-digit emergency number (9-8-8) to help people in a mental health crisis. NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.

every minute counts

On May 13, 2020, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed S. 2661, The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act, to establish 9-8-8 as a nationwide hotline for suicide prevention and mental health crises—making it easier for people in crisis to receive immediate and appropriate mental health support. Now, the U.S. House of Representatives needs to pass this important measure. Click here to support this effort.

Although 9-8-8 is not currently available [UPDATE: 988 became available on July 16, 2022.], if you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, help is available now. Call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

COVID-19 Advocacy

COVID-19 Advocacy: Help people with mental health conditions

Covid-19 Crisis

During the COVID-19 crisis, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness), a nonpartisan organization, is asking the public to support their effort to convince the U.S. Senate to:

1. Remove barriers to mental health treatment. People need ways to manage existing mental health conditions and maintain mental wellness while reducing their exposure to the coronavirus. To do this, Congress should:

• Eliminate all barriers to widely implementing telehealth in all public and private health plans and encourage all health plans to provide extended supplies and/or mail order refills of prescriptions. Both actions will help people with mental illness avoid risk of exposure to COVID-19.

• Approve funding for Emergency Response Grants at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to assist states in continuing to provide treatment for people with mental health conditions and substance use disorders.

2. Promote coverage for health and mental health care. People with mental health conditions are often uninsured or face barriers to getting needed treatment and supports. These challenges are even greater during a crisis. To address this, Congress should:

• Immediately launch a special enrollment period for commercial health insurance in the Marketplace (HealthCare.gov) to make sure people have access to affordable, quality health care coverage.

• Require the use of “presumptive eligibility,” which allows certain providers like hospitals and clinics to enroll people in Medicaid that they believe meet eligibility criteria.

• Ensure free COVID-19 testing and treatment for everyone, including people who are uninsured.

3. Ensure safe housing for people with severe mental illness. Many people with severe mental illness experience homelessness or housing insecurity and are uniquely vulnerable to being exposed to the virus and outbreaks in shelters or encampments. With the loss of steady income, many more individuals are also at risk of losing housing. Congress must act by:

• Providing $5 billion to serve people who are homeless and help them stay safe and healthy during this emergency.

• Approving an additional $5 billion to provide rapid rehousing for people who are at immediate risk of becoming homeless and funding for rental assistance to help low-income renters weather this crisis.

• Putting a temporary stop on evictions to ensure that renters and homeowners maintain stable housing during this crisis.

4. Support nonprofits’ capacity to serve. The economic impact of this crisis will also touch charitable organizations like NAMI organizations and our partners. Nonprofits need support to meet greater demand and fill important gaps during this time. To assist, Congress should:

• Provide targeted assistance to 501(c)3 organizations to help them keep their doors open during this crisis and offer paid leave to their employees.

College Students and Mental Health Help

The Associated Press has published an article under the headline, “As stigma ebbs, college students seek mental health help.”

Here’s an excerpt:

“More college students are turning to their schools for help with anxiety, depression and other mental health problems, and many must wait weeks for treatment or find help elsewhere as campus clinics struggle to meet demand, an Associated Press review of more than three dozen public universities found.

On some campuses, the number of students seeking treatment has nearly doubled over the last five years while overall enrollment has remained relatively flat. The increase has been tied to reduced stigma around mental health, along with rising rates of depression and other disorders. Universities have expanded their mental health clinics, but the growth is often slow, and demand keeps surging.

Long waits have provoked protests at schools from Maryland to California, in some cases following student suicides. Meanwhile, campus counseling centers grapple with low morale and high burnout as staff members face increasingly heavy workloads.”

Read the article: https://apnews.com/08e5c195bf04471e9c4a127abe831d91

How to Test Your Emotional Maturity

“Knowing how emotionally mature someone is can be the most important thing to know about them; but this knowledge may take (painful) years to acquire. This is why we’ve devised a very quick and very reliable test that can – in a few minutes – help us to ascertain our own and other people’s level of emotional maturity. It all has to do with how one responds to vulnerability.” – The School of Life in London

“One of the more puzzling aspects of the way we’re built is that our emotional development does not necessarily or automatically keep pace with our physical growth. We can be fifty-five on the outside and four and a half in terms of our impulses and habitual manner of communicating – just as we can be on the threshold of adulthood physically while an emotional sage within.

In order to assess our own and others’ emotional development, we can make use of a single deceptively simple question that quickly gets to the core of our underlying emotional ‘age’.”

Three cardinal virtues of emotional maturity: Communication, Trust, and Vulnerability.

Video: 6 minutes