'Depression in the time of Covid' panel discussion to be held in Clark County

Aprile Rickert, The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·2 min read

Jul. 13—CLARK COUNTY — The newly reintroduced Clark County Crisis Intervention Team, in partnership with LifeSpring Health Systems, will be hosting later this month a community discussion focused on mental health issues exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Depression during the time of Covid" will be discussed at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 29, at the LifeSpring Community Center, 404 E. Spring St. in Jeffersonville, according to a news release.

Panelists will include Dr. Eric Yazel, Clark County health officer and LifeSpring chief medical officer; Misty Gilbert, executive vice president of Clinical Services at LifeSpring; Teah Williams-Hampton, a licensed social worker and owner of Attuned Counseling and Consulting LLC; and a panelist with lived experience of depression. It will be moderated by Beth Keeney, executive vice president of Community Health Initiatives at LifeSpring.

"COVID-19 showed us the major holes in our healthcare system, and first in line is our mental health system," Yazel stated in the release. "Depression, anxiety, substance use disorder, and other decompensated mental illnesses immediately came to the forefront — not just an increase in prevalence, but issues with stigma in seeking help, access to care, and so many other issues."

Clark County Health Department numbers showed a drastic increase in the number of overdoses in the first two months of the pandemic, after a drop in the past several years that community health advocates had attributed to increased education and resources for people with substance use disorder.

"Last year was on pace to be as high as 2016," Yazel said. "We were down this year, but not back to pre-COVID levels."

That's why health officials and other stakeholders say these types of discussions are so necessary. Clark County Circuit Court No. 1 Judge Dan Moore, who initiated the Crisis Intervention Team earlier this year, said it is important to help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.

"In current times, we can no longer wait for things to happen inside the courthouse; instead, we need to bring the justice system outside the courthouse doors," Moore said in the release.

It's important to keep these issues at the forefront, Keeney said, to help people who may be struggling with mental health issues, or have loved ones who are, get the resources they need.

"The past 18 months has been a roller coaster — many people have experienced mental health issues such as increased anxiety, depression and substance use," Keeney stated in the release. "It's important for our community to know that these experiences are common, they are treatable, and people recover."