Legislative Column from Meeting Minority Chief Will Barclay
Might is Psychological Well being Consciousness Month, which highlights the significance of taking good care of your psychological wellness. Established in 1949 by Psychological Well being America, this yr’s theme is “Again to Fundamentals” and goals to supply simple details about psychological well being and psychological well being circumstances for these looking for providers and entry to care.
In response to the Nationwide Alliance on Psychological Sickness, greater than 52 million, or 1 in 5, adults within the U.S. skilled psychological sickness in 2020. Much more alarming, the pandemic additional exacerbated psychological well being points for youngsters and teenagers. Thus far, a latest report indicated 37% of highschool college students skilled poor psychological well being throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and their biggest challenges included a scarcity of connectedness when faculties closed, a rise in unhappiness, bodily and emotional abuse, in addition to household financial hardships. Hopefully, with the worst of the pandemic behind us, constructive psychological well being adjustments can now start.
As legislators, it’s our duty to craft coverage to assist New Yorkers – veterans, well being care employees, first responders, adults, adolescents and teenagers – coping and scuffling with their psychological well being. As such, the Meeting Minority Convention has launched a number of psychological health-related measures, together with:
A.7977, Blankenbush – Creating the Rural Suicide Prevention Council to look at the causes of rural suicides or makes an attempt, in addition to entry to psychological well being care, and to make suggestions for rural suicide discount;
A.5103, Reilly – Requiring the Workplace of Psychological Well being, Workplace of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Companies and the Division of Training to create a behavioral well being web site to supply data on quite a few behavioral well being points;
A.8377, Giglio – Requiring the Workplace of Psychological Well being to conduct a research associated to utilizing therapeutic post-traumatic stress dysfunction methods;
A.3501, Ashby – Enacting the “Well being Care Employee Peer Help Program” to supply grants to eligible entities for the aim of creating peer-to-peer psychological well being packages for well being care employees;
A.4646, Ashby – Permitting first responders who’re identified with post-traumatic stress dysfunction to request line of obligation sick go away; and
A.3585, Ashby – Establishing a statewide inexperienced alert system for lacking army members who’ve elected to hitch the system and who are suffering from a psychological sickness, together with post-traumatic stress dysfunction or a traumatic mind harm.
Psychological well being is crucial to total well being and instantly impacts our high quality of life and people round us. In case your psychological well being is trigger for concern, in Oswego County, psychological well being outpatient and inpatient providers can be found here; in Onondaga County, psychological well being providers and data is on the market here; and in Jefferson County, psychological well being and psychological hygiene data is on the market here.
In the event you’re struggling, please, converse with an expert about therapy, remedy and the advantages of train and mediation. Most significantly, keep in mind, you’re not alone and assistance is on the market.
When you’ve got any questions or feedback on this or another state situation, or if you want to be added to my mailing checklist or obtain my publication, please contact my workplace. My workplace could be reached by mail at 19 Canalview Mall, Fulton, NY 13069 and by e mail at [email protected] You might also discover me, Meeting Minority Chief Will Barclay, on Fb or on Twitter at @WillABarclay.