Summit and Park City officials adopted a resolution to make May a month of mental health awareness. Especially in this time of COVID-19, the uncertainty causes increased depression, anxiety, and fear.
The recent Coffee with Park City Council focused on the many services available to those who need emotional support.
Summit County Director of Behavioral Health Aaron Newman kicked off the session explaining the Mental Health Alliance services available to residents. Beginning this year, the county transitioned from Valley Behavioral to the University of Utah’s Healthy U Behavioral. He says it’s opened up access to an extensive range of behavioral health resources.
“And in doing that we changed the way we deliver services here in Summit County. Instead of relying on one or two individual clinicians, we've brought in 97 clinicians into our network of care.
Mary Christa Smith is the Executive Director of Communities that Care. Their mission is to create a culture of health and well-being for youth and families. Their coalition, she says, is made up of many community leaders.
“Our coalition is made up of non-profit leaders, local government officials, concerned parents and counselors throughout Summit County who serve the young people within our community. And we work together in a collaborative way so that we are supporting each other and have a cohesive approach to prevention and youth mental wellness.”
The Christian Center of Park City has responded to emergency needs in the area with food and financial assistance to those who have lost their income due to COVID-19. Leah Harter a counselor with the Christian Center specializes in trauma, anxiety, depression, and suicide. They’ve got nine therapists with some focusing on children and play therapy as well as teen counseling. Harter says last year,they gave out $25,000 in scholarship funds to help people with therapy sessions. Through the same program, they are offering two free sessions for individuals through the month of May. She says the COVID-19 pandemic has made even small issues much bigger.
“We have seen increased anxiety for sure. We have seen lots of loneliness, lots of isolation. We have seen relapse in addictions all over the place ladder depression lots of anxiety.”
Ellen Silver is with the Jewish Family Services. She explains that her organization is open to everyone regardless of religious affiliation. She says they have a very liberal sliding scale payment program. Her focus is Alzheimer’s and dementia patients as well as the caregivers.
“Most important thing is to keep as best a routine as you can. That really helps to relieve anxiety for both the care recipient and the caregiver. Putting prompts around your house about washing your hands and not touching your face. While those are things we remember internally, someone with a cognitive issue needs to be reminded of that constantly. What we're also telling people now, especially all our older adults, not just stuck at home as we really, really encourage them not to watch so much news.”
Silver says it’s important that those caring for others also take care of themselves by eating well, getting enough sleep, taking breaks and getting help as needed.
Newman says if someone needs immediate intervention, there are options most days from 9 A.M. to 8 P.M.
“If you feel you need to go see someone face to face we do have several options as well within our community. One of the areas is the University of Utah neuro psychiatric Institute or UNI Park City, which is located on Sidewinder right next to the IHC clinic. New this spring is IHC at the Round Valley clinic now has a new counseling center and part of that area they have six slots every day for crisis walk-ins.”
Several events to mark Mental Health Awareness month include:
Connect Summit County is sponsoring the Wednesday Lunchtime learning on the 13th of May. The zoom location will be included in this report on KPCW.org.
Communities that Care has Dr. Brad Reedy from Evoke Therapy Programs providing a free live webinar on Navigating Grief, Loss, and Anxiety from COVID-19.
The Park City School District begins the bi-weekly program beginning May 19 and ending May 29 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The program is to help parents communicate with their teenagers.
