mental health
Every day in California, nine people die by suicide. It’s the 10th leading cause of death in the state and nationwide. According to a recent study, More than half a million adults in California seriously thought about killing themselves in 2009. It’s such a big problem that just this past fall, the California Mental Health Services Authority launched a statewide campaign called Know the Signs as part of a larger Suicide Prevention Initiative.
But, in Sacramento, there’s a unique partnership between Sutter Medical Center and WellSpace Health that takes a hands-on approach to this devastating problem. It’s a suicide prevention arrangement that targets people who have already tried to take their own lives. And it’s all done over the phone.
"Mental Breakdown," a CHCF Center for Health Reporting project produced in partnership with theModesto Bee has won second place in the Health Policy category of the Association of Health Care Journalists' national competition.
Seven years ago, as Stanislaus County struggled with dramatic cuts to its mental health budget, Denise Hunt had an idea.
Three of the county’s five mental health clinics were closing. Hundreds of uninsured adults were losing access to mental health services.
If the county couldn’t afford to help them, Hunt determined, maybe other people in the community could.
Matt Freitas doesn’t believe in turning sick people away.
As mental health budgets shrink and services erode, Freitas, a nurse practitioner, is driven by a sense of mission to help patch the holes in the Stanislaus County safety net. Housed under a bright yellow awning in a strip mall off McHenry Ave., his primary care clinic, Aspen Family Medical Group, has taken on a key role in treating the county’s uninsured mentally ill.
As mental health budgets shrink and services erode, Freitas, a nurse practitioner, is driven by a sense of mission to help patch the holes in the Stanislaus County safety net. Housed under a bright yellow awning in a strip mall off McHenry Ave., his primary care clinic, Aspen Family Medical Group, has taken on a key role in treating the county’s uninsured mentally ill.
Joyce Plis, executive director of the Stanislaus County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, attends as many court hearings as she can, advocating on behalf of mentally ill individuals, helping family members navigate the legal system and talking with judges and attorneys on both sides about the individual defendants’ illnesses.
This story was originally published in the Modesto Bee.
Modesto police officer Ben Brandvold wasn’t sure how well crisis intervention training would work in the real world. In September, he found out after completing the weeklong training, which teaches officers and deputies in Stanislaus County to defuse potentially violent encounters with people who are emotionally disturbed.
This story was originally published in the Modesto Bee.
The latest chapter of Kim Green’s recurring nightmare began last fall.
In October, her 24-year-old daughter - who suffers from severe bipolar disorder and a mood disorder related to schizophrenia – was booked into the county jail after being arrested on a probation violation. In December a judge declared the young woman incompetent to face charges and ordered her to Napa State Hospital to get well.
But with no beds available at Napa, Green said, her daughter instead spent five months in the jail.
This story was originally published in The Modesto Bee.
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