Bills Expanding Access To Mental Health Care Are Among Several Signed Into Law
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois residents will soon have greater access to mental health services under measures Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law Friday. Starting Jan. 1, most insurance companies doing business in Illinois will be required to provide their beneficiaries with timely and proximate access to treatment for mental, emotional, nervous or substance abuse disorders. That […]
While Waiting For Mental Health Care, Children Suffer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Family pictures and religious art cover the walls in Meg Hartz’s home in South Bend, Indiana. She’s sitting on the end of a sofa, with a notepad to her left and a crochet kit to her right. In this spot — what she calls her command center — she’s spent hours […]
Mental Health Crisis: Children At Breaking Point During COVID
On a tree-lined street, behind a welcoming front porch with an American flag and cushioned furniture, a mother tries to calm her teenage son. At the moment, the boy is jamming a dog toy at the throat of his chihuahua mix. “Don’t force it, don’t force it,” she says, as the boy shoves harder, pushing […]
Pandemic Anxiety Looms Large For Some, Even After Getting Vaccinated
ST. LOUIS — For some, being vaccinated against COVID-19 has provided a dizzying sense of freedom after a year of isolation — opening the door to everything from baseball games to haircuts. But not everyone is ready for the transition. As life gradually inches back to normal, many are struggling with anxiety about resuming certain […]
Schools Bring Therapy Dogs To Focus On Post-COVID Student Mental Health
MORRIS — Boomer wanders the halls at Immaculate Conception School in Morris wearing a red vest that reads “therapy dog in training.” He’s a Great Pyrenees. So even at just a year old, he already clocks in at over 100 pounds and sits nose-to-nose with kindergartners. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/wnij/audio/2021/06/0610DogF.mp3 Listen to this story here. Boomer’s owner, school […]
U Of I Police Department Hiring Social Workers To Handle Mental Health Crisis Calls
URBANA – The University of Illinois Police Department is planning to increase the number of mental health professionals on staff to help officers respond to crisis calls. Lieutenant Aaron Landers leads UIPD’s community outreach efforts, including the new mental health pilot program, known as Response, Evaluation and Crisis Health, or, REACH. He says the plan […]
Champaign Clinic Aims to Spread Awareness of LGBTQ Mental Health
CHAMPAIGN – Many LGBTQ individuals experience issues such as prejudice and healthcare barriers, contributing to higher rates of mental illness among this community than the general population, according to nurse practitioner Kate Srikant. Individuals often feel isolated, or that healthcare providers don’t understand their struggles, Srikant says. Data from the advocacy group Mental Health America […]
As Pandemic Weighs On Children’s Mental Health, Some Iowans Struggle To Find Help
DES MOINES, Ia. — Janette Lems said the trouble for her kids really began when they started school last fall. Her 7-year-old daughter struggled with being limited to interacting with just several kids who didn’t include her friends, and her 5-year-old son was displaying a lot of anger and aggression. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s4780019/audio/2021/05/se-kids-mental-healthweb.mp3 Listen to this story […]
General Assembly Action: Seclusion And Restraint Ban Will Go To Governor
SPRINGFIELD – A bill to phase out the use of isolated timeouts and prone physical restraint in public schools will soon be sent to Gov. JB Pritzker. The Illinois House on Sunday voted unanimously to concur in changes the Senate made to House Bill 219, which include putting a virtual halt to the practices starting in […]
New Resource Helps Farmers Navigate Mental Health Needs
URBANA — A lot of people work tough jobs where they don’t have much control. But instead of merely being annoyed by a Lumberghian boss, imagine your livelihood was at the mercy of the weather and global trade wars. That’s farming. And it’s stressful. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s402/audio/2021/05/farming-nprone.mp3 Listen to this story here. A new online resource, FarmStress.org, […]
Young Adults Face Roadblocks To Access Mental Health Care
INDIANAPOLIS — Noelle Broughton is an accomplished student. She’s in a graduate program at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and is headed for a PhD. Listen to this story here. She also struggles with anxiety and self-doubt. As a child, she had a few therapy sessions, but they didn’t last. Now, at 25, she wants to […]
Link Between Mental Illness And Mass Violence Is Weak But Stigma Persists
INDIANAPOLIS — After every mass violence incident, Barbara Thompson sees a pattern. “You almost always hear that the people think that there was something wrong — that this person had a mental illness,” said Thompson, who is the executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Indiana. “And so it becomes something really […]
Mental Health A Leading Cause Of Maternal Death In Illinois, New Report Finds
SPRINGFIELD – Each year, 75 Illinois women die while pregnant or within 12 months of pregnancy, according to a report released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). The report is based on data from maternal deaths that occurred in 2016 and 2017, and were reviewed by the state’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee. […]
Accessing Emergency Mental Health Care Often Challenging
INDIANAPOLIS — Late on April 15, Brandon Hole stepped out of his car at an Indianapolis FedEx facility. Armed with a rifle, he shot and killed four people outside before moving inside to kill four more. Then Hole, 19, turned the gun on himself. That night wasn’t Hole’s first interaction with police. In March 2020, […]
Anxiety Expected As Life Starts Return To Normal From Pandemic
INDIANAPOLIS — Myranda Tetzlaff is a 25-year-old who has two pit bull mixes named Bub and Goose. She takes them on long walks for exercise. But she recently caught herself backing out of a hike— because she was afraid of seeing other people on the trail. Listen to this story here. “Oh, it’s nice outside, […]