As a result, 90% of countries surveyed planned to include mental health and psychosocial support as part of their COVID-19 response plans, the study found.
Locally, the Mental Health Services for Clark and Madison counties are taking similar steps, as the need for their services surged months into the pandemic, said Kelly Rigger, the agency’s CEO. The need is even greater today, she said, so in the past year MHS has worked to add to its staff and it’s expanded services and resources.
Young people were also impacted, so the agency has bolstered its mental health services for that group, including the construction of a building specifically for treating children.
The nonprofit organization also works to educate the public and partners with local groups to address homelessness, suicide prevention and general mental health issues. In addition, MHS work with the county health departments on their community health plan and look for ways to promote mental health treatment.
“Anything to do to break down the stigma, the barrier, can save lives,” Rigger said.
Her organization gets nearly $4 million from the Mental Health Recovery Board (MHRB) of Clark, Greene & Madison Counties.
The state of mental health locally is no different than across Ohio with the pandemic increasing mental illness and “playing a significant role,” MHRB CEO Greta Mayer said
“We know that primary mental health conditions are depression and anxiety, and both have been exacerbated by the conditions of a pandemic – isolation, worries about finances, fears of illness, etc.,” she said. “The pandemic has placed a magnifying glass on the demand for mental health care and the fact that there are simply not enough people to deliver that care.... We need more social workers, counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists to serve those in need.”
As the need for services has increased, so has the need for staffing, which Mayer said is the most pressing need.
“We need social workers and counselors, and this need cannot be filled immediately because you cannot produce humans with the requisite skills and licenses needed to deliver care quickly,” she said. “It is evident that we are all dealing with the challenge of retaining staff in a largely publicly funded system of care. The whole state is seeing problems filling open positions... mental health and addiction treatment and prevention are no different in workforce issues.”
There are several factors that have impacted the staffing shortage of behavioral health workers, Mayer said, including: Larger providers who offer higher wages such as hospital systems outside of the three counties have attracted talent away from local providers; there are a high number of people who retired earlier than in previous years, plus not having the younger trained workforce to replenish the capacity of those who have retired; the difficulty to recruit and attract a highly trained workforce when compensation is not competitive; and the workforce is required to have advanced training and education through obtaining graduate degrees but the pay field is not commensurate with the level of specialization required to do the job.
Rigger said the need for staff also comes from the demand for master-level clinicians and the challenges with getting growth.
“We are able to provide everything we do, but there are challenges with getting growth,” she said. “Access is not an issue, the issue is the growing of more programs because the need is higher. (I think) we are struggling most with therapist with master degrees. I think there are more job opportunities now because they have more choices and it’s a more competitive market for jobs, so that impacts in growing new services.”
Although isolation was one of the major problems brought on by the pandemic, it forced the mental heath treatment providers to come up with unconventional ways of servicing people. Patients can now access treatments through telehealth, a virtual way to access healthcare.
“It’s a change in services. Not less in services, but different,” Rigger said. “We are offering the same services and more, it’s just different since the pandemic due to telehealth as opposed to in-person.”
Rigger stressed that it’s normal to struggle both emotionally and physiologically, but not to hesitate to reach out and ask for help.
“That’s probably the big thing. People probably hesitate too long just to access treatment. These are healthcare providers and these are health problems. Talk to your own provider, family doctor, talk to somebody just to get started in getting some treatment,” she said.
There has also been an increase in drug overdoses due to the pandemic because people aren’t accessing treatment or they’re using substances to manage. Other reasons include the added stress created by COVID, and difficulty getting rehabilitative services during lockdowns and social distancing requirements.
Most overdose deaths
Clark County ranked third out of Ohio’s 88 counties for the most overdose deaths per 100,000 residents in 2013 and remained in the state’s top 10 until 2019, when it dropped to No. 14. However, the county jumped to No. 12 in 2021, after having a rank of 35 in 2020, according to preliminary data from the Ohio Department of Health. Champaign County ranked No. 14 in the state in 2014, but since has seen a decline compared to the state, dropping to No. 50 by 2019.
The number of deaths from March 2020-21 has risen more than 30% across the United States compared to March 2019-20, according to the CDC’s Provisional Drug Overdose Death statistics. In Ohio, the CDC stats show a 26% increase in overdose deaths.
In Clark County, there were 56 unintentional overdose death reported in 2019 and 55 deaths reported in 2020, state data shows. In Champaign County, deaths doubled locally, going from eight in 2019 to 16 in 2020.
Both the Clark County Combined and Champaign Health Districts conduct a Community Health Assessment each year that reports on the health and well-being of residents and identifies the top health priority areas for the next three years. The health districts then create a Community Health Improvement Plan to develop partnerships with other agencies to help progress the health of the county in many ways, including through mental health and substance abuse.
In Clark County, the goals are to reduce the rate of overdose deaths from 46.2 to 36.4, reduce the rate of suicide deaths from 19.6 to 15.2, and reduce the number of reported poor mental health days in adults from 5.2 to 4.8, according to the CCCHD’s report. In Champaign County, the goals include reduce the rate of overdose deaths from 27.7 to 24.9 and reduce the rate of suicide deaths from 16.6 to 14.9, according to the CHD’s report.
In Champaign County, they have prevention initiatives including the Suicide Prevention Coalition and Community Coalition for Opiate Relief Efforts (C.O.R.E.); several treatment agencies; advocacy and peer support groups; recovery housing; and other resources, according to the Mental Health, Drug & Alcohol Services Board of Logan & Champaign Counties.
The MHRB has also focuses on early interventions, prevention and peer support to help destigmatize the thought of needing help. It also works with providers to improve access to care with walk-in clinics and funding crisis services; efforts to focus on prevention and postvention services to reduce the need for higher level of care placements; and helped individuals as they transition back into the community from outside providers, hospitals, jails and other systems.
“MHRB is focused on how to meet individuals where they are, increase the variety in levels of care in the area, and normalize behavioral health issues. Bridging gaps has become a centerpiece to every effort of our involvement,” Mayer said.
MHRB has enough services, but staffing shortages also causes a wait list and longer times between appointments for those needing help, Mayer said.
Mental health impact on youth
A survey given to Clark County middle and high schools students show that 26.4% of middle schoolers and 36.3% high schoolers’ reported their mental health was either not good most of the time or always during COVID-19, according to the 2021 Youth Risk Behavioral Survey sponsored and conducted by the CCCHD.
The results also showed that 18.3% of middle schoolers and 21.3% of high schoolers’ parents or other adults in their homes lost their job, even for a short amount of time during COVID-19. This is important because it could potentially affect the income and stability of family households during the pandemic.
The results showed that 21.4% of middle schoolers and 29.2% of high schoolers reported their mental health was often not good at least most the time; 26.3% of middle schoolers and 20.6% of high schools seriously thought about suicide; 18.8% of middle schoolers and 17.2% of high schoolers made a plan to attempt suicide; and 11% of middle schoolers and 9.3% of high schoolers attempted suicide.
The MHRB has a Local Outreach for Suicide Survivors (LOSS) Team to provide postvention services to survivors of suicide. The team provided services to 25 families last year
“The members of the LOSS team are survivors and are able to provide a genuine empathy and support for these families by providing human connection, information someone might need for services, support group information, and more,” said Rachel O’Diam, director of treatment and prevention services.
Ohio has a higher ranked prevalence of mental health at number 27, according to 2021 data from Mental Health America (MHA), a community-based nonprofit that addresses mental health needs.
The six categories that make up the prevalence ranking includes: Adults with any mental illness (21.40%, or 1,906,000); adults with substance use disorder in the past year (7.64%, or 680,000); adults with serious thoughts of suicide (5.18%, or 461,000); youth with at least one major depressive episode in the past year (13.73%, or 123,000); youth with substance use disorder in the past year (3.97%, or 36,000); and youth with severe major depressive episode (9.1%, or 79,000).
Also in Ohio, there are 9.97%, or 15,377, students who had an iEmotional Disturbance (ED) for Individualized Education Program (IEP), according to MHA data. An ED is used to for youth with a mental* illness that is affecting their ability to succeed in school.
Many schools in Ohio, both K-12 and higher education, have reported increased concerns around mental health issues since COVID-19.
About 80% of Ohio schools that were eligible for wellness and mental health services funding took advantage of it last school year, and they spent a combined $289 million on that programming, according to the Ohio Department of Education.
Several local schools used state funding or federal COVID-19 dollars and added or expanded programs to help struggling students cope with mental health challenges.
Tecumseh Local, Springfield City and Triad Local schools all used funds to hire guidance counselors, mental health therapists, and other services to help meet students’ needs.
At Clark State College, students looking for help increased due to anxiety and depression.
“Students talk about the significant impact of loneliness and loss of their usual social activities during COVID, which intensified their existing mental health issues,” said the college’s Counseling Coordinator Melinda Van Noord, LPCC-S, MS.
“More students are seeking counseling for the first time; they feel that the changes and losses stemming from the pandemic were the main trigger for their mental health symptoms. Some students delayed seeking help during the pandemic - those students living in unsupportive or abusive environments feel safer attending in person appointments on campus rather than trying to find the privacy at home needed for virtual counseling,” she added.
To help combat the problem, the college refers students to Project Woman when needed, connects students with needed resources, added two positions in the Counseling Center - an additional mental health counselor and Peer Recovery Support Specialist - to increase outreach activities and provide more mental health screenings, contracted with an afterhours counseling provider for students to call 24/7, and added QPR (Question, Persuade, and Refer Suicide Prevention) classes and trauma informed care trainings to help staff and faculty see the signs of emotional distress in students and make referrals to counseling or other supportive services.
As issues have been increasing, Mental Health Services is also expanding its youth services with a new building in Springfield.
The project is an expansion of the main building to have more space for services and programs. It is anticipated to open on Sept. 1.
Mental Health Services is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, with walk-in hours available. Although the offices have limited hours, the crisis services and hospital are both available 24/7.
Adult services is located at 474 N. Yellow Springs St., Children & Adolescents services is located at 1835 Miracle Mile, the Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Programs are located at 1086 Mound St., and the Youth Challenges Partial Hospital Program is located at 924 E. Home Road.
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