May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and according to the Missouri Department of Mental Health, more than 1.2 million Missouri adults have some degree of mental illness.
Dr. Zane He is a psychiatrist with University of Missouri Health Care. He works at the MU Student Health Center as a sort of “school psychiatrist."
He spoke about how he's seen the stigma around mental health change during his career, and about how simply talking about issues can help reduce the stigma around mental health.
Missouri Health Talks gathers Missourians’ stories of access to healthcare in their own words.
Dr. Zane He: All in all, I'm very happy with the direction things are going in terms of mental health.
I've been – counting medical school, I've been in Columbia for about 10 years now, and I think over the years, there really has been a greater focus and greater acceptance of mental health.
So, right now, my current job, I'm not seeing a whole lot of patients that are more in the elderly population, but when I was a resident, when I was training, I would have a lot of elderly patients tell me that, “Hey, they've been always ashamed or embarrassed or feel like it's inappropriate to talk to people about mental health.”
And a general trend I've been seeing is that that stigma has gotten much, much, much, much less recently – especially amongst the younger population.
People tend to be a lot more open to disclosing their own mental health struggles and also asking their peers, asking their friends, how they're doing mentally, and so, I really like this trend that we're seeing.
When we talk about suicidality – that's typically only when depression gets to a boiling point. A lot of times, people struggling with depression don't have it so bad that they're having suicidal thoughts.
So, what are some other signs, maybe more subtle signs, of either depression, anxiety or some other mental health issue?
I would say maybe a decrease in functionality or activity would be a very good thing to watch out for.
So, if, let's say, you have a friend that you see on the regular, you, I don't know, hang out once every weekend or so, and then for the last three weekends – they've been giving you reasons, for whatever reason they're just not spending much time with you.
That might be a good time to just check in. Be like, “Hey, are you doing okay? Is there anything I can do to help you?” Something like that.
Aside from that, I would say conditions like depression and anxiety can affect various other aspects of our lives, like it can make it so that it's difficult to fall asleep, or it might make it hard for us to eat well or to focus well, and if you find yourself struggling with those areas, that could be a reason for you to talk to a professional.
I strongly encourage people to talk more about mental health. I think the more that it gets spoken about, the less stigma there's going to be regarding that.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org
To access ASL services via 988, you can call 1-800-273-8255 on a phone with video capabilities, or press the ASL NOW button on 988lifeline.org.
