May 1, 2023 By Katherine Mansfield 10 min read

In December of last year, Meghan Markle announced in the Netflix docu-series, “Harry & Meghan,” that she’d struggled with suicidal thoughts during her time at the palaces.

Love her or hate her, Markle’s revelation is part of a growing trend in which celebrities, including actors like Ryan Reynolds and athletes like Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, speak out about their mental health.

“It’s a 24/7, 3-6-5 push to break down the stigma of accessing mental health care,” said David W. Rider, administrator of Fayette County Behavioral Health Administration (FCBHA). “We’re very aware of celebrities, including athletes, openly addressing their mental health needs. That helps break down the stigma.”

Concerted efforts to end the stigma surrounding mental health date to at least 1949, when Mental Health America launched the first Mental Health Month. Each May, organizations raise awareness of and combat the stigma surrounding mental health.

The Observer-Reporter is joining those efforts with “Mental Health Mondays,” a series addressing local mental health. Each Monday in May, we will explore mental health topics including health-care staffing shortages, therapy apps, and John Fetterman’s open battle with depression, a mental illness that impacts about 17.3 million Americans.

More than 50 million Americans are currently experiencing mental illness, according to MHA’s “The State of Mental Health in America, 2023.”

That’s 21% of the adult population.

More than half of those adults do not receive treatment, with 28% foregoing therapy and other mental health care due to cost. The ratio of mental health-care providers to consumers is 1:420.

“Our biggest challenge now is just having staff to provide mental health services,” said Brean Fuller, mental health administrator for Greene County. “We’ve had a lot of staff resign recently. They are either going to jobs that have a more flexible schedule or that are paying them more money to do a less stressful job.”

Numbers for the percentage of Greene County’s population struggling with mental health are not available, but Fuller said more and more people are seeking services, straining providers.

Last year, 35 people in Greene County were hospitalized for mental health reasons between January and the end of April. This year, 46 have been hospitalized to date for the same reasons.

“It is not surprising to me,” said Fuller. “Not with the difficulties that people have had to face in the last several months, and just everything that’s going on: There’s the pandemic, there’s the economic stressors, there are just a number of things going on in society today that really have increased the number of people who have sought out services.”

Folks reaching out are dealing with symptoms of anxiety and depression, Fuller said, and younger people are starting to ask for help.

“We’ve certainly had an increase in those individuals seeking services in … what we refer to as transition-age youth, 16 to 24 age range,” she said. “That pressure is building up on them. They’re realizing that they need to seek out those services, and they’re doing so.”

Greene County is stepping up efforts to connect individuals to resources and end the stigma surrounding mental health.

Greene County has a 24/7 crisis hotline – dial 1-800-417-9460 for help – a walk-in crisis center and a mobile crisis unit that meets people in person to deescalate mental health crises.

“We’re actually in a really good position in Greene County as far as crisis services go,” Fuller said, noting the county received a grant from the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse to create a crisis intervention team.

The county also has Team Hope, a suicide prevention task force, and recently launched the Hope Squad in all five of its school districts; elected students are trained to provide support to peers struggling with mental health.

“We hope to see the progression of talking about mental health in schools,” Fuller said, adding, “We don’t want people in the community labeled as ‘crazy.’ We want people to say, ‘Oh, I see this person is struggling. How can I support them?’ That’s a big job.”

It’s a big job in Washington County, too, said Jennifer Scott, behavioral health and developmental services administrator for Washington County Behavioral Health & Development Services (WCBHDS).

“One of the things we really focus on is fighting stigma. We see it across all ages,” Scott said. “We have recently started doing outreach to senior centers, Depression Bingo, letting them know it’s OK to speak up because a lot of them were raised to think that it wasn’t. Kids just have fear in general. Stigma plays a huge role (in accessing resources). We’re trying to find new and unique ways to get the word out there that hey, it’s OK, we all need help sometimes.”

The agency is hosting a “Shine the Light on Mental Health & Suicide Awareness” Color Run May 20 to combat stigma and bring the community together. There are several online trainings available to those interested, with more events planned for later this year.

“We really need to make sure our message is out there 24/7, 365,” Scott said.

Scott said about 10,000 Washington County residents of all ages are currently experiencing mental illness – and that number accounts for just those qualifying for medical assistance to pay for mental health needs.

“There are far more than that,” said Scott, noting the majority of individuals seeking help in the county experience depression and anxiety.

Along with a 24/7 walk-in crisis center at 852 Henderson Ave., Washington, and a mobile crisis unit available throughout the county, people are encouraged to call the 24/7 crisis hotline at 1-877-225-3567 when they or loved ones are experiencing a mental health crisis.

SPHS, which operates the walk-in center, mobile unit and crisis hotline with WCBHDS funding, recently launched a text hotline geared toward a younger generation: 724-715-3584.

The text hotline is getting more use, Scott said, and the county recently added a crisis worker specially trained to work with children and adolescents. The focus on younger people is important, as Washington County has seen an uptick in the number of people from the younger generation seeking mental health support.

“I certainly am not a researcher, but we’ve heard and seen a few things. COVID definitely impacted individuals; kids didn’t have exposure to socialization. Social media has a big impact with cyberbullying,” Scott said. “More psychologists and psychiatrists are noticing mental health starting as young as a few months old. Sometimes (they have) had some separation issues with family members. It’s also, there are some things that are just innate. It’s both environmental and physical.”

Scott said she and her team are always searching for new ways to get the word out, connect people to resources, and, of course, end the stigma.

“Physical health and mental health are really the same thing,” she said. “People are willing to go to the doctor if they have diabetes or a cold. You have to have good mental health if you want to have good physical health.”

That’s the message Rider is trying to spread in Fayette County, where crisis hotline calls have increased.

“As the county’s 24/7 Crisis Intervention provider we have seen a dramatic increase in calls to our Crisis Line of 30%. We are also one of 12 988 National Crisis Line call centers in Pennsylvania. The 988 service began operations in July and, once again calls have increased each month since July,” Mike Quinn, CEO of Chestnut Ridge Counseling Services, said in an email. “Nationally, children being seen in emergency departments for psychiatric reasons has increased by 25%. While similar statistics for Fayette County are not readily available, we have reason to believe the same is true in our local hospital emergency rooms.”

Fayette County is well-equipped to provide services to anyone struggling with their mental health, be it a long-term diagnosis, like bipolar disorder, or depression following the death of a loved one, said Rider.

“Right now, we have six licensed outpatient mental health clinics in the county. We have many independent practitioners. There are a lot of treatment resources available,” Rider said. “If there’s a crisis, there are a couple of doors that folks can enter. They can call 988; there’s 13 988 call centers across the commonwealth. One of those is right here in Fayette County.”

The direct dial crisis hotline – 724-437-1003 – is staffed by Chestnut Ridge Counseling Services, which offers services to the greater community and has satellite offices in county high schools. That resource is provided with parental consent, Rider said, for minors, and a convenient way for older teens to access mental health care.

“Chestnut Ridge and our office tries to make sure that the parents are active participants in the outpatient treatment,” Rider said. “We’re seeing a lot of people have a very curated and positive presence on social media, and many of us, when we compare ourselves to the bright, shiny experiences on social media, that’s another stressor that our grandparents didn’t have. We’re left with whether to ignore it or talk about it.”

The one barrier to access in Fayette County, Rider said, is mental health-care staffing, but he noted the six outpatient facilities and additional independent providers, along with other area resources, do meet resident needs.

“We have great, committed providers. We’ve taken very seriously supporting those provider partners. We’re very proud of them,” he said. “Of course, we would love for folks to go to college, get advanced degrees and come into the field.”

To facilitate connection between the community and resources, FCBHA, in tandem with Beacon Health Options, is hosting a Mind Your Health resource fair, complete with games, food and other entertainment, from 3 to 6 p.m. May 3 at the Uniontown YMCA, 1 YMCA Lane. Folks are encouraged to drop in for the food and games and stay for the 25 to 30 vendors who will be on-site providing mental health information and resources.

Other events through May include “Burn Out the Stigma,” a free car show at the Dawson Grange Community Fairgrounds. The fun begins at 10 a.m., with live music and games, food trucks, speakers and educational booths entertaining and informing until 4 p.m.

“We want mental health care to be convenient for folks. We want to connect people to resources,” said Rider. “The best resource is a resource that people access, that people use. I would just welcome folks to reach out to office and see what we can connect them to.”

To contact the Fayette County BHA, visit https://www.fayettecountypa.org/264/Behavioral-Health, or call 724-430-1370.

For more on Greene County’s Mental Health Program, go to https://www.co.greene.pa.us/department-mental-health-program, or call 724-852-5276.

To connect with the Washington County BHDS, visit https://washingtoncountyhumanservices.com/agencies/behavioral-health-developmental-services/contact or call 724-228-6832.

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