{"id":22829,"date":"2021-04-23T15:44:40","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T19:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apn.com\/?p=22829"},"modified":"2022-05-20T15:10:48","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T21:10:48","slug":"mental-health-milestones-over-the-last-decade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apn.com\/resources\/mental-health-milestones-over-the-last-decade\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental Health Milestones Over the Last Decade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the last decade, the world has seen one crisis after another, from job loss, foreclosures and financial impact of the Great Recession, to the turmoil of racially-charged events leading up to the Black Lives Matter movement, to the onset of a global pandemic that has, to date, resulted in\u00a0nearly 3 million deaths worldwide<\/a>. That\u2019s not even factoring in significant political divisiveness and international tensions\u2014or murder hornets, for that matter.<\/p>\n

Times of crisis can cause even normally healthy and well-adjusted people to experience mental health concerns, and for those already suffering from\u00a0anxiety, depression, PTSD, or other mental health disorders<\/a>, it can be much worse. If one good thing has come out of all these crises, stacked one on to of another, it\u2019s that we\u2019ve had the opportunity to shine a spotlight on mental health\u2014raising awareness, combatting age-old stigmas and making mental health resources more available to those who need them. Let\u2019s take a look at what has happened in the last 10 years on the mental health front.<\/p>\n

Passage of the Affordable Care Act<\/h2>\n

The cost of healthcare in the U.S. is enough to cause anxiety, even in those with relatively good insurance coverage. For the millions who went without health insurance prior to 2010, it was even worse, as they had to weigh the consequences of failure to treat illness and injury against the potentially outrageous cost of seeking treatment.<\/p>\n

The passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in March of 2010 marked a turning point in the accessibility of affordable health insurance for everyone. More importantly, it eliminated controversial practices like charging more or denying coverage to those with preexisting conditions and it created a list of essential health benefits that must be included in plans.<\/p>\n

This list prioritized women\u2019s and children\u2019s health services, not previously considered essential, and it added\u00a0mental health and substance use disorder services<\/a>, including treatment options like counseling and psychotherapy. This was a huge benefit for those coping with mental health concerns, and a step in the right direction for mental health awareness and treatment.<\/p>\n

Mental Health Legislation<\/h2>\n

There have been several legislative advances for mental health services in the last decade, including the\u00a0Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act<\/a> (GLSMA), named after Senator Gordon Smith\u2019s son, who committed suicide in 2003. This act first went into effect in 2004, with the goal of ending youth suicide by supporting suicide prevention and intervention programs on college campuses, and more widely, in every state and on Indian reservations.<\/p>\n

In 2015,\u00a0GLSMA was reauthorized and expanded to include not just youth suicide prevention efforts, but programs for people of all ages, with a particular focus on groups who are at high risk for suicide. The act includes \u201cgrants to establish research, training and technical assistance centers related to mental health, substance abuse and the justice system\u201d.<\/p>\n

2016 saw the passage of the\u00a021st<\/sup> Century Cures Act<\/a>, which provided for the establishment and codification of the following:<\/p>\n

An Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use and a Chief Medical Officer<\/strong> \u2013 responsible for implementing effective, high-quality services.<\/p>\n

The Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ)<\/strong> \u2013 to serve as the lead agency for behavioral health statistics, conducting surveys and tracking behavioral health issues at the national level.<\/p>\n

The Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee (ISMICC)<\/strong> \u2013 to facilitate coordinated efforts across federal departments, which address \u201cthe needs of individuals with serious mental illness or serious emotional disorders and their families\u201d.<\/p>\n

The National Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Laboratory (Policy Lab)<\/strong> \u2013 tasked with focusing on and promoting, developing and expanding evidence-based practices and service delivery models for serious mental illness and substance use disorders.<\/p>\n

What these and other legislative advances illustrate, is a growing recognition that mental health needs to be prioritized, and that providing treatment and other resources is essential to improving overall health among the population.<\/p>\n

The Growth of Telemedicine<\/h2>\n

Believe it or not,\u00a0hospital-based telemedicine<\/a> has been around since the 1950s, although, telehealth services date back almost to the invention of the telephone. Remote diagnosis and other medical services have always been a necessity in rural areas, and the growth of new technologies over the last couple decades has opened doors to an expanding range of telehealth treatment options, including\u00a0virtual intensive outpatient programs<\/a> for mental health, trauma, substance use disorders and more.<\/p>\n

With options to seek mental health services or crisis intervention via calling, texting, emailing and video chat, there are now more opportunities than ever before for people dealing with mental health issues like depression or with suicidal thoughts, to reach out for help in the way they feel most comfortable.<\/p>\n

Where We Are Today<\/h2>\n

It is estimated that in the U.S. alone,\u00a0over 50 million adults suffer from mental illness<\/a>, including a variety of conditions that could range from mild to severe. That\u2019s almost one in five people. As of June of 2020, during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> (CDC) found that \u201c40% of U.S. adults reported struggling with mental health or substance abuse,\u201d and that\u2019s probably just the people who reported and\/or sought help, such as counseling services or\u00a0addiction recovery treatment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Of course, this spike in reported cases reflects the stresses of the time, so it\u2019s possible some cases of anxiety, depression and so on, are temporary and will improve as vaccinations increase, stay-at-home orders end and life goes back to normal. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of people dealing with mental illness not associated with such crises.<\/p>\n

Depression remains one of the\u00a0leading causes of disability<\/a>, and among the 15-29 age group, suicide is the second leading cause of death. Considering over 20% of adults will suffer from some kind of mental illness at some point in their lives, it\u2019s imperative that we continue working to remove the stigma associated with such illness so that treatment can expand, and more importantly, people will feel comfortable and confident taking advantage of recovery resources.<\/p>\n

All Points North Lodge offers both residential and remote services for those seeking mental health, trauma and\/or addiction treatment. Contact us today or visit us\u00a0online<\/a> to learn more about how we can help you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the last 10 years, there’s been more prevalence placed on mental health. Learn about the major mental health milestones that have taken place over the last decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":22834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[309,312,2],"tags":[245,32,246,84,66,229,247],"class_list":["post-22829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mental-health","category-pschiatry-psychology","category-resources","tag-aca","tag-addiction","tag-affordable-care-act","tag-depression","tag-mental-health","tag-mental-health-treatment","tag-mental-illness"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/apn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apn.com\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}