Parkland working to break the mental health stigma

Posted: 6/29/2022

Minority Mental Health Awareness Month shines light on lack of understanding, fear

He tried taking a step forward in the lunch line as a young student but didn't learn why his body wouldn't cooperate, until 45 years later. "I felt that something was wrong with me, but I didn't know what," said Edel Isaac, a former Parkland Health patient. From that point on, he noticed he was different but didn't want to bring attention to himself. "Back in the day, if anything was different, people would make fun of you," he said. It wasn't until he sought mental healthcare from Parkland's behavioral health services that he discovered he had muscular dystrophy.

In September 2020, the domino effect that would negatively impact his mental health began. An injury on the job forced Isaac to resign. Then, the 62-year-old was forced to isolate at home because of the pandemic. This took an emotional toll; he could no longer talk to patients as he normally did as a concierge at a local nursing home and eventually, he watched too many patients there take their last breath while connecting on FaceTime. It was time to talk to someone, but as an Hispanic male, he said seeking help wasn't in his DNA.

"Mental health has been a strictly taboo subject for so long," Isaac said. "But these days, I notice Hispanics are learning to accept the fact that help is out there. They're feeling less ashamed to seek it out."

He started doing his research and discovered that Parkland offered counseling services. He picked up the phone and took the next step. "I wasn't bothered by intrusive thoughts when I was busy working all day and talking to people. But when we were forced to stay at home, being alone made me introspect too much, almost to the point of depression."

In 2021, thousands of patients visited Parkland Health for behavioral health reasons:

• ED/Psychiatric intake: 2,386
• Psychiatric Emergency Department: 6,821
• Psychiatric Extended Observation Unit: 3,722

"COVID-19 did bring the world of mental health at least one good outcome. That outcome is virtual care. The natural barriers to visiting a healthcare facility for mental health reasons were eliminated in terms of travel and paid time off (PTO) because we could connect with our patients digitally," said Fuad Khan, MD, Chief of Integrated Behavioral Health, Parkland Health.

National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month is observed each July by the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services Office of Minority Health to bring awareness to the unique struggles that racial and ethnic minority communities face regarding mental illness across the country. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports that the COVID-19 pandemic made it harder for racial and ethnic minority groups to get access to mental health and substance use treatment services.

From March 2020 through February 2021, physicians conducted 32.5 million telehealth services for nearly 5 million Medicaid beneficiaries in five states alone, according to the US Gov't Accountability Office (GAO). That's up from the 2.1 million telehealth services delivered to 455,000 beneficiaries a year prior to the pandemic. "This is great news for the world of behavioral health," said Dr. Khan. "There exists this unique ability for mental health providers to not have to physically touch a patient for most assessments. We can simply log on and talk, and when we need somebody to come in, our initial virtual visit can triage that."

In 2015, Parkland Health became the first hospital system in the country to screen every patient at every portal of entry for suicide risk using standardized and validated tools. Beyond that, Parkland follows an evidence-based algorithm to take the next steps once a screen is positive. Parkland began the universal screening program because many patients who die by suicide have contact with a healthcare system in the months before death, but the risk was undetected without formal screening.

"We opted to screen everyone to try to catch more people as that may be the only time an individual might have contact with a healthcare provider," says Kimberly Roaten, PhD, a Parkland Psychologist and Professor of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

For Isaac, suicide is an emotional subject. He said he reconnected with his niece during the pandemic and would chat through a phone messaging app. Then one day he noticed some concerning things she posted on her social media account. Not too soon after, she died by suicide.

"We may think we know what's going on with other people, but we have no idea," said Isaac. "Mental health issues are one of the scariest and most dangerous things around. If you have the flu, you show symptoms. But if you have mental health issues, the symptoms may not be obvious."

Isaac sought help from Parkland counselors and said he is in a good place now and advocates to his family and friends that it's okay to not be okay but to find help when the mental health struggles start to impact the overall quality of life.

"We know mental health has been a challenge because it is not seen as a medical issue, that's where part of the stigma comes in," says Dr. Khan. "It's easier for people to say they have a liver problem or a broken bone. When it comes to mental illness, people don't say 'my brain had a panic attack.' They say, 'I had a panic attack.' It sets the stage for blame on their identity as a person as opposed to looking at it as a dysfunction of a distinct organ. Part of breaking the stigma is to encourage people to rethink and reprogram themselves that it is the brain struggling and not them as a whole person."

A list of behavioral health resources offered by Parkland can be found online at www.parklandhealth.org. The North Texas Behavioral Health Authority Mobile Crisis Line is 866-260-8000 or people can send a text message to 741741 using the word HOME. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255 and will change simply to 988 on July 16.

< Back

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.