By CYNTHIA McCORMICK
cmccormick@capecodonline.com
July 13, 2009
Mental health workers say fears and concerns about the economic recession are leading to depression among many Cape Codders and contributing to a lingering sense of anxiety. Bay View Associates, which has offices in Hyannis and Wareham, reports that referrals are up 10 to 15 percent over this time last year, and McLean Hospital in Belmont says its census is up 11 percent.
Taking control can lessen stress An official at Cape Cod Behavioral Health Services in Hyannis says patients hospitalized for illnesses such as major depression are demanding to be released early because they are afraid of losing their jobs. And Gosnold on Cape Cod, which provides mental health and substance abuse counseling, has organized a series of seminars for employees of local businesses that combine psychological and financial advice. There's too much of a direct link between many people's current experience of anxiety and depression and the economy not to acknowledge it, said Raymond Tamasi, CEO of Gosnold.
"People are worried about whether they are going to be able to pay their mortgage," Tamasi said. Arthur Bence, program director of Bay View Associates, said it's too early to determine whether the increased demand for mental health services is linked to the economy. But Dr. Nada L. Stotland of Chicago, immediate past president of the American Psychiatric Association, said the APA is seeing a "great increase" in mental stress and psychiatric illnesses among the general population as the unemployment numbers rise and foreclosures climb.
A study released by the APA two months ago shows that more than two-thirds of Ohio women surveyed say the economy has had a negative impact on their lives and the lives of family members. "People are definitely reporting more stress," Stotland said. The increased levels of people seeking services from places such as Bay View and McLean may be just the tip of the iceberg because when people lose their jobs they often lose the benefits that pay for mental health care, experts say.
"When you lose your job and you lose your home seeking mental health care is not the first thing you do or first thing you can do," Stotland said. "There may be lots more people who need care, but there's less care." Counselors say the economy is pushing traditional therapy subjects like relationships to the back burner. "I've been counseling folks 15 years and never in that time period has the economy been in the forefront of therapy sessions," said Tim Lineaweaver, director of behavioral health at the Community Health Center of Cape Cod, whose main office is in Mashpee.
This month the nonprofit community health center expects to counsel more than 500 people, compared with 420 individuals in June, Lineaweaver said. He said counselors are used to dealing with people who struggle to get through January and February, when the Cape's seasonally based economy typically slows. But this year many of these folks still couldn't find work by April or May, Lineaweaver said. "It's been unusual."
Adding to the grief experienced by the seasonally employed has been the spring and early summer rains that kept landscapers and house painters off the job, he said. "It elevates people's financial anxieties. They feel, 'I just can't keep up.'"
Economic uncertainty means that even some of the most severely ill people are seeking to curtail their treatment, said Edward LaRoche, executive director of Cape Cod Behavioral Health Services, which is affiliated with Cape Cod Healthcare.
"What we're seeing is people who require hospitalization more eager to get out because they are afraid of losing their jobs," he said. LaRoche said these individuals, the majority of whom suffer from major depression, are being transferred to partial hospitalization programs or outpatient services that can be scheduled around their working hours. Among the dangers of prolonged stress and anxiety are their tolls on people's relationships and the risk people might turn for relief to alcohol and drugs, said Tamasi at Gosnold. He said that adding financial counselors to a series of eight to nine seminars Gosnold held for Cape companies beset by layoffs gave employees more than practical advice.
By learning to write down their expenses to see where they can be cut, people regained something important, Tamasi said — a sense of control.
You won't have much of a sense of control with Ray Tamasi of Gosnold, Inc. or Cape Cod Behavioral Health Services of Hyannis running your life. Tamasi is the Chief Exectutive Officer of the organization that operates old Honorable Joseph Reardon's Drug Court. Reardon and Tamasi are responsibe for diverting hardened criminals such as Christopher McCowan, convicted in the 2001 rape and homicide of Christa Worthington on the streets of Hyannis. Cape Cod Behavioral Health Services provided psychiatric care and treatment of McCowan prior to homicide in 1999. Court records show that the department of probation notified McCowan that he failed to appear at mandatory therapy appointments two years well before the homicide of Miss Worthington. Judge Robert Welsh surrendered the probation of Christopher McCowan, and then dropped the ball, leaving McCowan to fall through the cracks. Judge Welsh's son later tried the homicide, secured a tenuous conviction, and was nominated to the bench.
What did the victim get in this case? Slandered with scurrilous rumors perpetuated by the sitting District Attorney, Michael O'Keefe. I've posted a photograph of her daughter, orphaned due to their incompetence.
Ava Worthington is the daughter of Christa Worthington and Tony Jackett. Two months before her death, Christa wrote a will, naming longtime friends Amyra Chase and her husband Cliff as Ava's guardians. Ava is now living with the couple in an upscale suburb outside Boston. The Jacketts are allowed to see Ava two days, every other week. Posted so that the human services and psychiatric services don't forget what a victim looks like!
Lastly, I was arrested, charged and confined to a facility for complaining excessively and making police reports about narcotics offenders, violent criminals and sex offenders in the area of The NOAH Shelter, 77 Winter Street. McCowan was known to the shelter complex and adjacent crack houses. There is a heavy penalty for whistleblowers on crime in downtown Hyannis.
