As we come up on more than 2 years living under the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need for increased access for mental health services. In a recent article published to Scientific Reports, researchers stressed that mental health concerns need to be a major focus as the US continues to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Experiences that many of us have gone through in the past two years such as social isolation, working from home, income loss, and being out of school have significantly contributed to increased levels of mental health concerns. According to a survey taken in a recent Scientific Reports article, 1 in 3 respondents reported mental health concerns, an increase from the 1 in 4 that reported mental health concerns prior to the pandemic. More specifically, anxiety increased 37% (from 16% in 2019 to 53% in 2020), depression increased 9% (from 19% to 28%), and alcohol abuse increased 8% (from 6% to 14%).
According to Patrick Bordnick, PhD/MPH, the dean of social work at Tulane University, “We are seeing issues now and will see more behavioral health issues for years to come.” In addition Tonya Hansel, PhD has stressed the need for increased availability of psycho education, therapy, and other treatments to address these concerning increases in mental health concerns.
Here at Houston Mind and Brain, we know that these past two years have been difficult. We are happy to provide a wide variety of services for mental health including TMS, Spravato, medication management, and psychotherapy. Don’t ignore your mental well-being! If you’d like to learn more, please give us a call at (832) 699-7922 or visit our website in our bio!
