Self-care for sanity

As Southeast Texans wade through the wreckage of the pandemic – inflation, joblessness, working jobs on skeletons crews, homeschooling students, mourning those lost to COVID-19, endless reports of crime and mayhem in communities that once felt safe, and the list goes on – mental health providers throughout the area have reported an uptick in adults – and children – seeking professional help.

“Sadly, we have seen an increased need for the services we provide to Southeast Texans,” said Heather Champion of the Spindletop Center in Beaumont, a nonprofit organization specializing in behavioral health care, programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and substance use recovery services.

“We’re happy to be here and happy to support our community,” she quickly added, asserting that people seeking help is actually a good thing.

An estimated one in five Americans are affected by mental illness each year, not including the families and loved ones also impacted. Initiatives like Mental Health Awareness Month in May help get the word out that seeking assistance in coping with mental health issues is not only normal – it’s as necessary seeing a professional for any other health issue.

“This is an important month for us,” Champion said of the quasi-holiday. It gives organizations like the Spindletop Center the opportunity to touch those who may need their services, but are hesitant to seek out such care. “Mental health impacts everybody. It’s not just about people who struggle day-to-day with severe mental illness.

“The last few years, with the pandemic and hurricanes, inflation … have led people to have growing concerns, frustrations, anxiety…”

Major depressive disorder alone affects nearly 10 million American adults annually, marked by what can range from relatively subtle symptoms to thoughts of suicide, including confused thinking, prolonged sadness or irritability, feelings of extreme highs and lows, excessive fears and worries, social withdrawal, dramatic changes in eating or sleeping habits, strong feelings of anger, growing inability to cope with daily problems and activities, denial of obvious problems, unexplained physical ailments and substance abuse.

Champion said that, although the mental health of our children doesn’t always manifest on the forefront of discussion, today’s youth is not only coping with the usual growing pains, but also pandemic and current event-related problems, and have been represented heavily in the growing list of patients seeking mental health care.

“Our children have been struggling,” Champion said. In addition to the trickle-down burdens placed on children when parents are overly stressed, even the normalcy of going to school was taken from a entire generation of kids with little planning as to how that would impact their mental wellbeing. “When school was shut down and parents had to figure out ways to make it work, that was very stressful – to everyone.

“A lot of children are behind on where they should be academically in the school system now,” and that can be a depressive trigger for a student that previously excelled scholastically. Champion described any given day for any given young Southeast Texan: The time that used to be spent learning new things alongside their peers was traded for hours and hours of watching a teacher on a screen. Extracurricular activities gave way for long nights with parents trying to teach – and learn for themselves – “new” math. Evenings were no longer made for fun with friends, but instead trying to catch up on educational material that’s been hard to put to memory with so much else cluttering up scattered thoughts. “It was hard for parents and kids both.”

And it isn’t just the Spindletop Center noting increased interest in service. Baptist Behavioral Health also keeps a full schedule, and Samaritan Counseling outreach has likewise expanded.

Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) published the semi-annual mental health waiting lest at the end of 2021, denoting Texas’ critical need for added staff and infrastructure to meet the needs of those seeking care.

Workforce shortages, HHSC reported, include challenges in recruiting and retaining psychiatrists, licensed clinicians, and qualified mental health professionals.

“These short-term issues were due primarily to longer-term difficulties remaining competitive with outside employment opportunities, while also having limited funding to retain existing staff or to recruit new staff,” the HHSC legislative report recited. “Challenges were greater in rural and underserved areas.”

At the end of 2021, dozens of children and adults were recorded on the area’s mental health waiting list, as presented to the Texas Legislature. Hundreds of Texans statewide were on mental health waiting lists.

“Staffing shortages take beds offline,” HHSC staff reported back to the legislature, both in communities and in state mental hospitals, where hundreds more patients were recorded on waiting lists for critical and non-critical care. On the heels of the state report, the commission recommended added funding for mental health care, more support for agencies trying to fill staffing positions, and more opportunities for telehealth services.

The results of the HHSC recommendations have helped enhance the local mental health agencies, Spindletop’s Champion shared.

“Things have improved,” Champion said. “The last legislative system, there was more funding injected into our system. It’s great when legislators recognize the need in our communities; and, on the federal level, those dollars are starting to trickle down. So, that’s been a big help.”

Getting staff on the payroll has still been a chore, but events like Spindletop’s recent career fair have helped fill the void.

“To hire, recruit, and retain has been hard, just like for a lot of hospitals and other health care providers,” Champion said. Health care professionals are burnt out, just like the rest of the population. Many are choosing different career paths. “We still have positions available.”

But, Champion would add, in addition to jobs, Spindletop Center also has help waiting for those who need it. She warns that regarding mental health concerns as taboo, or “bad,” or something that’ll pass, something that only happens to other people is detrimental to one’s own well-being. It’s also detrimental to the well-being of those you encounter. It isn’t wrong, she said, to be kind to yourself and others.

Spindletop Center is hosting a virtual Mental Health Symposium on May 17, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. via Zoom, Champion said, with the theme of “self-care,” hoping to reach a broader audience needing to hear how its OK to take some time to focus on mental care, as well.

“With the traumas we’ve experienced, it’s important to take care of yourself,” Champion said. “A lot of people don’t know what that means – and how you can incorporate self-care into your daily life. It could be gardening, yoga, organizing your closet, cooking healthy meals…”

Guests featured during the symposium will include comedian Avish Parashar, subject matter expert Amber Woods, and breakout sessions covering a host of material with guest experts.

“And, even better – it’s free,” Champion said. Professionals can also pay a nominal fee – $25 – for continuing education credits that can be earned by attending the seminar.”

“The No. 1 thing our community can do is stand together and be there for each other,” she summed up of what we can do for the mental health well-being of our collective community. “You never know what someone is going through that day. A simple, ‘Hi; how are ya’ can go a long way.

“And don’t take ‘fine’ for an answer if you know is definitely not fine. Don’t be afraid to nudge – and to be there for that person. We have to let people know we care about them. We have to be there for them.

“We’re humans and that’s what were meant to do – be there for each other.”

Find more information on the Spindletop Center’s 5th annual Mental Health Symposium and register at spindletopcenter.org or https://secure.qgiv.com/for/202sym/event/846636/.

This article represents the first in a series throughout May Mental Health Awareness Month.