Topeka—Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs) are encouraging Kansans feeling the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic to connect with their local mental health center.

Topeka— The way the public mental health system operates in Kansas has largely remained the same since Mental Health Reform in the early 1990s. Now, amid challenges such as increased demand for services, insufficient funding, and workforce shortages, the community mental health system is strained and in need of a new service delivery model to meet the needs of our communities.

As a graduated senior from Blue Valley North’s class of 2020, I know firsthand how proactive conversations about mental health can help students. In high school, I was able to help a friend who was struggling with suicidal thoughts realize that she is loved. Having that conversation and showing her support helped her to realize that she did not have to face her struggles alone and that there is a support system to help. However, for other youth it may be more challenging to recognize and seek the services that are readily available to them because there is an inherent cultural stigma against mental health.

I have been asked a lot about social isolation associated with shelter at home orders and social distancing causing anxiety and depression since Governor Kelly’s emergency declaration due to coronavirus on March 12. Clearly, this is a consideration for all of us, and behavioral health providers like community mental health centers are very aware that as time goes on, staff and services will be even more necessary to help people with increased anxiety, depression, or even post-traumatic stress disorder. With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, this seems like an even more timely occasion to comment.

Topeka— Kansas’s Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs) are encouraging Kansans feeling the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic to connect with their local mental health center via telephone or online. CMHCs are dedicated to ensuring Kansans continue to have access to behavioral health services.