Tag: Region Ten

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Seasonal strain: Dealing with the winter blues

The cold, dark days of winter bring an added level of stress for people who are already struggling. PC: File photo

There’s no question that the pandemic has spiked everyone’s stress level. Millions of people have lost jobs. Parents are struggling to balance work lives with kids’ remote learning. Many have been stuck inside their homes for months, away from loved ones. And on top of all of that, coronavirus cases and deaths continue to increase every day.

According to local mental health experts, this upcoming winter will bring a whole new layer of stress.

While many have been able to safely do activities outdoors during the summer and fall, “in the cold months people tend to stay inside more,” says Varinia Garcia Anderson, a licensed professional counselor at The Women’s Initiative. “People can’t get out…and that’s a lot of pressure on the system of your well-being.”

Being stuck inside can have a significant impact on mood and behavior, even in normal winters, explains Anderson. It can decrease motivation and energy, making it challenging to get anything done, as well as increase feelings of loneliness and isolation.

Winter also means fewer hours of daylight, which has real consequences for mental health. Sunlight triggers the release of mood-boosting serotonin in the brain, meaning short, dark days are hard for everyone, says licensed clinical social worker Eboni Bugg, who practices in the Charlottesville area.

To get through this stressful season, Bugg encourages everyone to safely spend time outside as much as possible during the day, which helps the body to produce vitamin D, boosting our mood and immune system.

For people of color, getting sun may not be enough to maintain healthy vitamin D levels, explains Bugg.

“For Black and brown people, I encourage folks to check with their physician and check their vitamin D level,” she says. “Because our melanin protects us from the sun, it also limits our capacity to manufacture vitamin D in our skin.”

When it’s not possible to go outside, it’s important to find ways to exercise every day, which naturally helps fight depression.

Regularly indulging in activities “that make you feel good” can also help to relieve winter stress, such as listening to music, reading, cooking, and watching movies, says Anderson.

Though it can be difficult during this time, try to “maintain hope [by] cultivating a practice of gratitude,” adds licensed clinical social worker Joanna Jennings. “Really think about the small things in life that bring you joy or peace, sometimes even writing them out.”

Getting a pet can help too. “Finding something else to care about sometimes can really refocus your energy,” says Bugg.

Most importantly, people should prioritize staying connected with family and friends, and being there for each other through this difficult winter, say all three therapists.

“COVID has really increased disconnection amongst us, but there are still ways we can facilitate connections that are safe,” says Jennings.

Keeping in touch is also the best way to support a family member or friend who is under a lot of stress. That might mean a regularly scheduled phone or video chat, or a socially distanced activity together, preferably outdoors.

“For people who have a loved one who may be suffering, sometimes the concern is that you have to be an expert [and] help them fix it,” says Bugg. “The reality is that most people really just need someone to see them, listen without judgment, and love them unconditionally.”

Of course, these simple practices might not be enough to relieve stress or other mental health struggles.

According to mental health experts, you may be in need of professional help if you experience drastic changes in appetite, sleeping patterns, and energy levels for more than two weeks. Overwhelming anxiety and sadness, feelings of withdrawal, and acts of self-harm are also major causes for concern.

“If a person is really noticing a change…it’s never too early to reach out to a professional,” Jennings stresses. “Oftentimes we are able to catch something early and put supports in place to prevent it from escalating to a serious mental health condition, or to the point of a crisis.”

Free and affordable mental health care is available through multiple community providers, including Region Ten, The Women’s Initiative, Charlottesville Free Clinic, On Our Own, Central Virginia Clinicians of Color Network, and Partner for Mental Health.

The Community Mental Health and Wellness Coalition—a network of health organizations in Charlottesville and the surrounding counties—will also be offering no-cost support groups and events online during the holiday season.

“There are people who are really here to support those who need help, [regardless] of money,” says Anderson. “You are not alone.”

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Coronavirus News

Desperate: Drug overdoses increase locally since onset of the pandemic

From the beginning of April through the end of July 2020, Charlottesville had three times as many drug overdoses reported to the fire department as during the same period in 2019.

By Claudia Gohn

From April 1 to July 31 of this year, emergency teams responded to 27 opioid overdoses in Charlottesville—a 200 percent increase in cases compared to the same time frame in 2019, reports the Charlottesville Fire Department. Health professionals believe the stress of the pandemic is one factor responsible for the increase.

Other areas in the state are struggling with similar problems. Arlington County police issued a warning last week after five people died from drug overdoses in August. In Roanoke, police responded to twice as many fatal drug overdose calls this spring as they did in all of 2019, reports The Washington Post. And NPR reports that nationwide, overdoses are up 18 percent since the pandemic began.

The local increase in opioid overdose calls comes despite an overall decrease in the amount of emergency calls this year, says Lucas Lyons, the Charlottesville Fire Department’s systems performance analyst. Total emergency calls in the city were down 23 percent in the period from April to July 2020, compared to the same months in 2019.

“In general, 9-1-1 calls are down because of people’s fear of the pandemic and not entering the medical system,” says the Community Mental Health and Wellness Coalition’s Rebecca Kendall. “But there is an increase in Charlottesville in calls for overdose despite that.”

Virginia Leavell, chief of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad’s board of directors and director of Addiction Allies, a treatment center for people with opioid use disorder, attributes this increase to the isolation and decreased access to in-person recovery services many have experienced during the pandemic. “I think when we are looking at why there is some increase, it’s somewhat predictable, right?” Leavell says. “We’ve taken away the support structure and we’ve added a whole lot of stress.”

Leslie Fitzgerald, care coordinator for Region Ten’s office-based opioid treatment program, echoes Leavell. “The isolation, the increased depression and anxiety has led to increased use,” she says.

As a result, treatment and recovery services for people with substance use disorder remain vital. In March, C-VILLE covered how recovery groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, have transitioned online during the pandemic. Similarly, some treatment and recovery services for those with opioid use disorder have shifted online.

“It’s not the same level of support that you would have if somebody was coming into the office, honestly,” Leavell says of the virtual options. “And it makes things like urine drug screening more difficult, as well.”

But Leavell also says that telehealth services have made it possible to see new patients. This spring, enrollment in Addiction Allies’ intensive outpatient program has tripled. “Which I think speaks to both the increased stress and the increased use [of substances] during this time, but also the importance of the telehealth service delivery in order to reach people who are having transportation issues [and] childcare issues,” she says. “Everything is easier if you can access treatment from your home.”

The OBOT program has retained almost all the individuals under its care during the pandemic, says Fitzgerald. A central component of the program is medication-assisted treatment, where drugs such as methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone may be used to reduce dependency.

This medication-assisted treatment can be done via telehealth, Fitzgerald says, and prescriptions are sent to the patient’s pharmacy of choice or delivered by Region Ten if necessary.

Leavell says that medication-assisted treatment through telehealth, though not ideal, is safe. “When we’re talking about opioid use disorder, it is a very, very uncomfortable withdrawal,” she says. “However, it is unlikely to be lethal and the transition from using opioids to moving into medication-assisted treatment, such as the use of buprenorphine is typically fairly smooth.”

Other services combating the opioid crisis have also been impacted by the pandemic, and Region Ten offers free opioid reversal training classes, which have been moved online, and participants now receive Narcan through the mail.

Leavell emphasizes that, given the emotional and financial strain of the pandemic, it’s especially important to be aware of the causes of opioid addiction. “There’s a misconception that addiction couldn’t happen to someone like me or my family. And the reality is that it can absolutely affect anyone. It is just a matter of being prescribed an opioid and becoming physically dependent,” she says. “And if we’ve been fortunate enough not to experience that, I think we have responsibility to help those who have through no fault of their own, through making those resources accessible and being willing to talk about it.”

 

Correction, 8/19/20: Virginia Leavell is the chief of CARS, not the president, and buprenorphine, not Narcan, is used for medication-assisted treatment.

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News

Imperfect solution: Activists warn that existing social service systems can’t fix problems with policing

Mental health advocate Myra Anderson warns that the social service systems need reform too. PC: Eze Amos

Since the violent arrest of an unhoused man on the Downtown Mall earlier this month, Defund Cville Police—along with numerous other activists and community members—have continued to call for the creation of a local mobile crisis unit, which would respond to emergency calls that the police are not equipped to handle.

Lori Wood, director of emergency and short term stabilization services at Region Ten Community Service Board, has expressed public support for the creation of such a unit, which she says could answer some calls related to mental health or substance abuse.

But radically shifting the city’s budget alone will not bring an end to systemic racism and oppression, specifically within mental health services, warns Black mental health advocate Myra Anderson.

“It’s moving money from one system that has historically and systemically not treated Black people right, [to] another system that has the same legacy,” says Anderson about Region Ten, a public agency—funded by local, state, and federal dollars—providing mental health, intellectual disability, and substance use services to Charlottesville and surrounding counties.

“Region Ten doesn’t need to be the go-to person [for the mobile crisis unit],” says Anderson, a former client who later became a board member and peer support specialist at the agency. “I feel like it’s Black skin…police are going to be on the scene anyway, based on personal biases that people [there] have.”

Former client Quezeann Williams also attests to these biases. At 10 years old, she says she was forced to go to Region Ten without her mother’s consent after she entered foster care, and was put on medications that “never made her feel good” and caused her to gain a lot of weight, among other side effects.

“I feel like because I was Black, what I said to the white people did not matter. It was their words against anything I felt, needed, or wanted,” says Williams, who graduated from Charlottesville High School this year. “I struggle from anxiety due to this being more so trauma than anything…It was one of the worst experiences I ever went through.”

Anderson began receiving services at Region Ten as a child in the ‘90s, and was diagnosed with PTSD and depression. After graduating from college, she says she returned to the agency for adult services, but was inflicted with even more trauma.

“The system caused me to be subjected to everything from cultural incompetency, to racial unawareness…to microaggressions,” she says. “There was a gap in racial empathy. And that has been consistent throughout the time I received services.”

These problems in mental health care systems exist nationwide. Black people, indigenous people, and people of color are more likely to receive poor quality of care and have their services end prematurely, among other disparities, according to the American Counseling Association.

Per federal law, Region Ten cannot comment on individual cases. However, it’s been working for several years to expand its cultural awareness and sensitivity as part of its strategic plan, says community relations coordinator Joanna Jennings.

“[We] offered staff and management the opportunity to attend a local racial and cultural humility training in the fall of 2018 and 2019,” she says. “These two training sessions began a journey for Region Ten that has opened up the conversation of systemic racism at all levels of the agency.”

In 2016, Anderson filed a formal complaint about her treatment with the Charlottesville Human Rights Commission. The complaint made its way up to the Virginia Human Rights Committee, and the following year, it ruled that Region Ten had unlawfully prevented her from receiving services for six years as retaliation for her complaints, slamming the agency with multiple violations.

Region Ten isn’t the only social service provider in Charlottesville that has demonstrated racial bias. An independent 2019 report on the city’s foster care system showed that Black and multiracial children were referred to child welfare services at a higher rate than white children, and that “some racial groups compared to others” experienced “less favorable outcomes” once within the system.

Instead of relying on existing social service institutions, Anderson—alongside local advocacy nonprofit Partner for Mental Health—plans to create a working group of peers, professionals, and other stakeholders from diverse backgrounds “to reimagine mental health without police intervention.”

The group will seek to understand the community’s needs and listen to the stories of “our most marginalized people who have engaged with our police while in mental distress,” she says. It will also study other mobile crisis units around the country and provide recommendations to City Council. The group hopes that starting from scratch will allow the new agency to focus on its work, without having to fight against biases in established institutions.

In recent years, Region Ten has created a team to lead its equity efforts, which plans to provide implicit racial bias training, among other goals and initiatives. It’s also looking to hire and retain more diverse staff.

“Region Ten recognizes that this is a long-term and multi-faceted commitment,” adds Jennings. “We will continue to press forward.”

While Anderson is in support of expanding additional behavioral health services through defunding the police, she believes Region Ten and other existing social service systems need to fix their “implicit biases” before receiving more money. “You can’t throw a band-aid on something that’s more like a gaping wound,” she says.

Categories
Arts

Local middle schooler organizes suicide prevention concert

Charlie Shea, 13, is an eighth-grader at Henley Middle School. For an English project, she’s organizing Celebrate Yourself at the Southern on March 18 to benefit the Suicide Prevention Awareness and Resource Council. Photo by Eze Amos

On Charlie Shea’s first day of middle school two years ago, she received some words of wisdom from her father, Danny Shea. “My dad told me, ‘It’s going to suck. I’m just going to brief you,’” Shea remembers. In the past two years, she says she experienced “enough bad days to go around,” as well as fellow students who would say anything to make someone feel worse, good friends and “‘good friends’ in quotations.”

“Society makes us feel like we need to paint this picture like we’re all perfect—perfect bodies and perfect grades,” says Shea. “We’re all wound so tight to the point that it’s stressful.”

Shea found a support system through her teachers at Henley Middle School and through her love of music. She sings and plays the guitar, ukulele, piano and drums, and likes “old music” like David Bowie and Queen. She says Beyoncé—“my idol”—always lifts her up. Growing up surrounded by the “awesome, badass, fun people” in the Charlottesville music industry, Shea believes in the power of music to spread positivity.

Shea’s English teacher, Elizabeth Sweatman, recently challenged her students to identify a world issue and try to do something about it. One day later, Shea knew she wanted to manage and host a concert advocating for two issues she’s always felt passionate about—suicide awareness and prevention, and removing the stigma surrounding mental illness.

“I hear about [these issues] so much and see how horrible they are,” says Shea, who has seen many of her peers affected by stress, anxiety and depression. “There needs to be a call to action, to stop being so scared of it. When someone hears the scary S-word, no one wants to talk about it.”

On Sunday, she takes the stage at the Southern as emcee alongside Sally Rose for the Celebrate Yourself show benefiting the Suicide Prevention Awareness and Resource Council. The council is part of Region Ten and provides suicide awareness education and training, mental health resources and other health and wellness efforts like the annual SPARC of Hope Walk/Run in October.

Joining Rose and Shea in the lineup are local acts 14 Stories and Unintended Consequences, both comprised of students from Western Albemarle High School, and Nahlj Corbin and Sarah Gross, who are two soloists from the Music Resource Center. Between sets, Shea and Rose will perform together.

Gross, a freshman at William Monroe High School in Greene County, plays acoustic and electric guitar, and recently performed her original song “Yellow Sweater” at the MRC’s album release party. It’s a raw, honest acoustic piece that showcases Gross’ vocals and storytelling capabilities. She is excited to perform on a stage bigger than anything she’s played on before, and to be doing so for Shea’s cause.

“I personally have known friends with depression and anxiety, and wouldn’t want anyone in that situation to not have access to help when they need it,” says Gross.

Shea’s father says the experience of coordinating an entire show has been empowering for his daughter. As a talent buyer for Starr Hill Presents and Red Light Management, Danny Shea didn’t want to make the experience easy for her.

“If we [at the Southern] do anything, it has to be viable. It’s the same for anyone that pitches a show,” Danny says. “We want to do something that reinforces the fabric of what is good about our community.”

Lori Wood, Region Ten’s Director of Prevention, Outpatient and Crisis Services for Youth, calls Shea a “go-getter.”

“When I heard about [her], I was like, ‘Wow, look at this!’” Wood remembers. She’s grateful to collaborate with students like Shea in city and county schools to increase access to mental health resources, legislation and training.

It’s that wow factor that has brought Shea the most joy throughout her project.

“I love seeing people’s reactions,” says Shea. “They’re like, ‘What? You’re putting together a concert? You’re 13. How can you do that? Something’s not right here. You’re a child.’”

Peer support

The National Institute of Mental Health offers the following steps you can take when someone is contemplating suicide.

Ask them: “Are you thinking about killing yourself?” It’s not an easy question
but studies show that asking at-risk individuals does not increase suicides.

Keep them safe: Reducing access to highly lethal items or places is an important part of suicide prevention.

Be there: Listen carefully and learn what the individual is thinking and feeling.

Help them connect: Save the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s number in your phone so it’s there when you need it: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Stay connected: Staying in touch after a crisis or after being discharged from care can make a difference.