Back on September 1, House Democrats in The State of Michigan Legislature announced “their plans for a mental health listening tour” that opened with a list of “their priorities for improving our mental health system.” [1]
At the outset, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) findings from mid-2020 were specifically cited. This included a highlight that “40% of US adults reported struggling with mental health or substance abuse,” and further noted that younger adults, “racial/ethnic minorities, essential workers, and unpaid adult caregivers reported having experienced disproportionately worse mental health outcomes, increased substance use, and elevated suicidal ideation.” [2]
Not surprisingly, the growing impact of COVID-19 was identified as a leading cause for increased concern, need for increased “intervention and prevention efforts.” [3-5]
From a broader perspective, studies have consistently found that the holiday season brings increased negative stress generally. Its wake in January is sometimes dubbed “Divorce Month” (although some research points to March and August as the times of year for peaks). [6-10]
More particularly, the “National Alliance on Mental Illness noted that 64% of individuals living with a mental illness felt that their conditions worsened around the holidays.” [11]
In addition to homelessness per se, “fuel poverty” means that greater than “1 in 4 adolescents living in cold housing are at risk of multiple mental problems compared to 1 in 20 adolescents who have always lived in warm housing.” [12,13]
The party effort that began with bringing attention to all of the above here in Michigan is being lead by our own Representative Felicia Brabec of Pittsfield Township. Beyond the important role of serving constituent interests on this matter, she is herslf a credentialed expert in the field of mental health. [14,15]
Broad, if not all-encompassing (and even overwhelming) as the increasingly catch-all topic of “mental health” can be, facilitating meaningful exchanges among myriad stakeholders in open forum settings will add an even greater level of complexity.
To their credit, “Listening Tour” listeners stationed behind a long table heading the room included Michigan House Democratic Leader Donna Lasinski, who also represents our 52nd District, including the City of Saline; and House Democratic Floor Leader Yousef Rabhi, Representative from Ann Arbor. [16,17]
Additionally, panel experts included executive leadership from Community Mental Health Partnership of Southeast Michigan, Packard Health, Psychiatric Emergency Service at University of Michigan, and Washtenaw County Mental Health. Up to two dozen individuals could be seen in the audience. [18-21]
Each was given an opportunity to speak at some point, with microphone handed over to them.
This worked out to a range of extremes in terms of what was shared and the emotion with which it was shared. All had to be at once respected and managed — and Dr Brabec did just that, most skillfully, as event moderator throughout.
While presented as forums “to get input from multiple communities” in support of responding to “community partners and consumers [who] would like to be active participants in creating legislation,” it is hard to imagine this structure could move much if at all along that line. Even less so with just one of the two parties involved in creating that legislation in Lansing.
Laudable as the aspiration clearly is.
Moreover, undue focus on that would run the risk of missing what was accomplished here, the importance of that, and the unique value of having legislators with formal, ongoing affiliation in the needs, resources, and interconnects about which improved legislative involvement is, objectively, needed.
Additionally, at a time when the lesson of COVID-19 seems to be that virtual interactions can if not should replace face-to-face, this sort of gathering, and the commitment of all sides in attendance, provided the too often, too missing human feel for a growing mental health crisis that really does hit all of us, right here at home.
References
- Michigan House Democrats (home page).
- “Mental Health, Substance Use, and Suicidal Ideation During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, June 24–30, 2020” (August 14, 2020) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- “Pandemic hits mental health of women and young people hardest, survey finds” Jon Henley (November 23, 2021) The Guardian.
- “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)” CDC.
- “Novel Coronavirus Reports” CDC.
- “McLean’s Guide to Managing Mental Health Around the Holidays” McLean Hospital.
- “After the holidays, Divorce Day looms” Danielle Braff (December 8, 2016) Chicago Tribune.
- “This Is Why January Is the Biggest Month for Divorce” Claire Nowak (December 1, 2021) Readers Digest.
- “Divorce court is normally quiet during the holiday season, but this year it’s booming as the pandemic drives couples apart” Julia Naftulin (November 24, 2020) Insider.
- “Is divorce seasonal? Study shows biannual spike in divorce filings” (August 21, 2016) American Sociological Association.
- “Mental Health By the Numbers” NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness.
- “Poverty and mental health: policy, practice and research implications” Greig Inglis and Lee Knifton (October 2020) US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (NIH).
- The Health Impacts of Cold Homes and Fuel Poverty, Marmot Review Team (May 2011) Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- “Felicia Brabec: State Representative | 55th House District” Michigan House Democrats.
- “Felicia Brabec, PsyD, MSW” Ann Arbor Wellness Center.
- “Donna Lasinski: House Democratic Leader | 52nd House District” Michigan House Democrats.
- “Yousef Rabhi: House Democratic Floor Leader | 53rd House District” Michigan House Democrats.
- Community Mental Health Partnership of Southeast Michigan (home page).
- Packard Health (home page).
- “Psychiatric Emergency Service” Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan.
- “Community Mental Health” Washtenaw County Michigan.
