Rising demand for mental health services coincides with country’s financial woes

Americans are worrying themselves sick over their financial security in a declining economy. Doctors nationwide have reported increasing patient complaints of fatigue, irritability, sleeplessness and apathy, which are common symptoms of anxiety and depression, according to an October 2008 report by the American Psychological Association.

But just as the need for mental health services is reaching record highs, access to treatment for the insured and uninsured alike is shrinking, along with state and federal funding.

In March, four public mental health clinics on Chicago’s South and Southwest Sides will close their doors due to state budget cuts, leaving only eight pubic clinics open in the city, said Tim Hadac, spokesman for the Chicago Department of Public Health, which oversees the administration for the clinics.

Health care advocates say they are worried that the closings will devastate communities in need of mental health services now more than ever.

“There’s going to be a terrible deficit of services available,” said Lora Thomas, executive director of NAMI Illinois. “I’m very fearful.”

“The need for mental health services is what we call countercyclical,” said Mark Heyrman, chairman of the Mental Health Summit, a mental health advocacy group at the University of Chicago. “The worse the economy, the more mental health services are needed.”

Tom Green, Spokesman for the Illinois Department of Human Services, which funds the clinics, said the department is doing its best to continue to provide adequate services.

“With a tight budget, all state agencies are having to make decisions on funding,” he said. “The department is doing the best they can with the resources available.”

In 2006, Illinois ranked in the bottom six states for its overall provision mental health services and received a grade of F from the National Alliance on Mental Illness. NAMI reported that while Illinois ranked 11^th among the 50 states in per capita income, on mental health services, it fell in the bottom 32 percent — with a rank of 34 — on per capita mental health spending.

Last year an estimated 24.3 million adult Americans suffered “serious psychological distress,” according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a federal agency in Rockville, Md. that is overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and some experts are predicting that number will rise as the economic recession deepens.

Fear of unemployment, the threat of home foreclosure and other personal financial crises, which are becoming increasingly common in the weakening economy, can lead to serious, long-term mental and physical health problems, said Dr. Nancy Molitor, a clinical psychologist in Wilmette, Ill., an affluent Chicago suburb, and public education coordinator for the American Psychological Association in the Midwest.

“I’ve been practicing for 25 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Molitor. “This is impacting practically everyone who comes in to see me now. I believe this is our next public health crisis.”

Molitor said high stress due to job loss or financial woes often leads to panic disorders, insomnia, depression and anxiety.

About 86.6 percent of Illinoisans had health insurance in 2007, which is about average compared with other states, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. By state law, insurers in Illinois must cover 50 percent of the cost of the treatment of 12 mental illnesses including major depressive disorders, panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, beyond what is ordinarily deductable under the patient’s health plan.

But treatment is costly and patients are still required to pay the difference out of pocket, said Molitor.

For the state’s 1.8 million uninsured, public health services may be the only solution and those services are becoming fewer since the state slashed funding this year for Chicago mental health clinics by $1.2 million – about 15 percent.

Hadac said he hopes the remaining clinics, which will absorb the staffs from those folding, will be able to handle all of the city’s 6,500 regular clients.

The Chicago Department of Public Health is launching an extensive public awareness campaign to ensure current and potential patients are aware of their options once their regular clinics close and that all therapists will be moved to the next closest clinic to help patients maintain treatment, said Green.

Not all Americans are at the same level of risk for mental health problems. People with a prior or family history of mental illness, for example are more likely to experience to a serious psychological problem when they lose their job or another traumatic event occurs.

Molitor said other risk factors include isolation, poor physical health, a tendency toward pessimism and a family history of mental illness.

Those feeling highly stressed or moderately depressed can help reverse the course of mild anxiety and depression, she said, by reaching out to a friend or family member or doing physical exercise.

Illinois residents feeling extreme stress or worried that they are experiencing symptoms of depression or anxiety can find their closest public mental health clinic by calling the Illinois Department of Human Services help line at 1-800-843-6154, or visiting the department’s online clinic finder.