May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to discuss the important role mental health plays in a person’s overall health and well-being. It is also an opportunity to provide resources and information to support individuals and communities who may need mental health support.
When a person is facing mental health struggles, figuring out how to connect to care can feel like one more hurdle to overcome. To take the first step, it can help to speak to someone who knows you well. That’s one of the benefits of beginning the conversation with your primary care provider.
“Opening that conversation can be challenging,” said Dr. Robert Sedlacek, a Family Medicine Physician with ThedaCare Physicians-Waupaca. “There’s benefit in talking to your primary care provider, who knows and understands your health and history.”
To mark Mental Health Awareness Month, Dr. Sedlacek discussed factors that influence mental health and shares tips for starting a dialogue with a primary care provider.
Widespread Concern
Mental health struggles affect people across backgrounds, genders, ages, geographies and races.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the following statistics:
- More than one in five U.S. adults live with a mental health issue.
- Over one in five youth (ages 13-18) are experiencing or have experienced a debilitating mental health problem.
- About one in 25 U.S. adults lives with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depression.
Dr. Sedlacek noted, in some cases, there are challenges when it comes to accessing mental health care. He said a primary care provider can help people connect to available resources.
Contributing Factors
Many factors contribute to the high rate of mental health struggles, Dr. Sedlacek said. Technology plays a big role. It often hurts people’s well-being more than helps.
“We have a lot more tools for connectivity, but those don’t always result in meaningful interactions or relationships,” Dr. Sedlacek said. “We find ourselves behind a lot of screens. Those simulate interactions with another person, but often mask the full emotional content.”
Heavy technology use can pose a particular risk to young people. Phones and other devices can make it easier for kids to become targets of bullying. Using certain social media sites can also lead to developing body image negativity, comparing oneself to others and striving for unrealistic standards of beauty.
Many other factors also are at play. People today may have worries and stresses specific to the time in which we’re living. These can include everything from money woes to climate change anxiety.
Mental-Physical Health Connection
When someone comes into the doctor’s office with a physical problem, a mental health concern may underlie that.
“If there’s a physical illness, then the mental illness tends to follow, and vice versa,” Dr. Sedlacek said. “If there’s a mental health concern then we often see physical symptoms that follow. It’s usually that physical symptom that gets someone to come in.”
People may not come in to the doctor’s office saying they feel depressed, Dr. Sedlacek explained. Instead, they might say their stomach hurts and they’re not sure why. Or they’ll say they’re having trouble focusing, sleeping or eating. Physicians and advanced practice clinicians are trained to see these connections. They can help people recognize that they may need help.
Starting the Conversation
Dr. Sedlacek said getting help can be as simple as asking. He also acknowledged that it’s not always that straightforward.
“In the clinic, we routinely screen adults for anxiety and depression,” he said. “We also have a set of tools for screening for substance use, which so often coincides with mental health issues.”
Screenings and tools can help uncover problems. The provider can then start to further investigate and offer treatments that may include therapy or medication.
Kids and teens experiencing mental health struggles can receive care through Catalpa Health, a pediatric outpatient mental health and wellness organization.
“As primary care providers, we’re here to take care of the whole person,” Dr. Sedlacek said. “We encourage everyone to have open conversations about their mental health.”
Additional Care
To provide additional mental health support to people through ThedaCare primary care clinics, ThedaCare Behavioral Health has begun offering Collaborative Care. Patient-centered teams use this type of integrated care to treat common mental health conditions in primary care.
Primary care and behavioral health providers collaborate using shared care plans that incorporate each patient’s goals. The care team also works with a psychiatric consultant. That expert consults on a patient’s treatment and progress, and makes recommendations to the primary care provider on treatment adjustments when needed.
Because the collaboration manager is located right in the primary care clinic, access to care is almost immediate, said Heather Pagel, Behavioral Health Manager with ThedaCare Behavioral Health. This often starts with a warm handoff during an office visit.
Patients then follow up with the collaboration manager regularly for up to six months. These follow-up visits can take place in the clinic or by video or phone.
Eleven collaboration managers work across nine primary care clinics. ThedaCare Behavioral Health plans to continue to expand the program.
“We’ve found that patients really appreciate having collaborative care available,” Pagel said. “Patients can possibly feel better faster, with a significant decrease in bothersome symptoms in a relatively short period of time. The ability to get both physical and mental health care at their primary care office is comfortable and convenient for patients.”
Those who want care without an appointment can visit ThedaCare Behavioral Health Walk-in Care, located at 333 N. Green Bay Road in Neenah. It’s open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. In the event of a mental health emergency, call 911. To discuss a mental health concern with your primary care provider, visit MyThedaCare to schedule.
