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WV RANKS WORST IN MENTAL HEALTH - Disgraceful System Needs Revamped |
| (04/18/2006) |
| By Bob Weaver Here is another "WV Worst." West Virginians are more likely to report "severe psychological distress" than people in any other state, according to a new survey. The state has jumped from seventh to first in the national ranking of people with mental-health issues. Complicating the matter is the lack of availability of services, particularly in rural parts of the state. It is a system that throws up walls, making access very difficult. After a while, most folks think "why bother." Westbrook is no exception. No reimbursement, no service - although most agencies dance around the payment issue like a drunken sailor and defend themselves saying the funding is just not there to provide needed services. The state's mental health system is disgraceful, certainly mindful to not be disrespectful to the hundreds of professionals who are delivering services to those in need. One in eight WV adults said they had a serious mental-health problem in 2004, according to the survey released last week by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The percentage of adults reporting a significant mental-health problem in WV is 12.7 percent. The national average was 9.6 percent. Now, WV has renewed its focus on mental illness after advocates and the media have revealed it is a system that was falling apart. Since massive budget cuts in 2000, the suicide rate has jumped, more people than ever have been committed to state mental hospitals, and mentally ill people have flooded hospital emergency rooms and homeless shelters. The availability of drug and alcohol treatment when needed is worse than it has ever been, although the Division of D & A in Charleston is likely spending their resources the best they can. Gov. Manchin has created a new commission to determine where West Virginia spends its mental-health dollars and whether those treatments actually are effective. That commission will surely look at the half-million dollar salary being paid a CEO by Northwood, the mental health center in Wheeling, among many other issues to spending money on fancy buildings. The once public mental health centers went "private" several years ago, but are run almost entirely on taxpayer money. Part of a renewal is a $20 million package to hire more caseworkers to make sure mentally ill people get the treatment they need in their communities.
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