US Sen. Thom Tillis pushes for stronger mental health resources in NC
State lawmakers and medical professionals gathered Monday in an ongoing push to address mental health and substance abuse in North Carolina.
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis hosted a roundtable to discuss current challenges in the state and how they can be addressed.
Health providers, lawmakers and advocates for recovery agreed that current programs to help mental health and substance abuse have been underfunded and stigmatized for years, arguing it is time for change.
Kody Kinsley, North Carolina secretary of health and human services, said, "It has been underfunded for a long time, stigmatized for a very long time. I think we're seeing it first and foremost in children."
High school students with depression are more than twice as likely to drop out, and more than 2 million people a year booked into jails have serious mental illness.
"If we don't do something to assess and deal with children, we're going to have adults that are going to be in jail or on the street having a crisis," said State Sen. Jim Bergin (R-Harnett).
In the roundtable, Tillis offered his own experience with what he called a "brief mental health crisis" that he said opened his eyes to what is lacking in the current systems and programs in place.
"I personally experienced pharmacologically-induced mania followed by serious depression," Tillis said. "I don't think any of my colleagues knew what I was struggling with."
The panel discussed current laws and their successes and gaps.
The roundtable was held to mark the anniversary of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act being signed into law. The law was was authored by Tillis and, among other actions, aimed to harden school security and implement crisis intervention programs in schools.
"I want North Carolina to be the number one state for implementing all the mental health behavioral health capabilities we've authorized in the bill," Tillis said. "I want North Carolina to be extraordinary."
Bergin said on Monday that mental health issues affect everybody and should be treated with care.
"It’s going to happen with your family. It’s going to happen with a loved one. Everybody in life will have some kind of mental health issue," he said.
The group spent much of the roundtable discussing insurance coverage for treatment and medication, including how physical and mental issues can often go hand in hand.
They also talked about the strong correlation between incarceration and issues of mental health and substance abuse.
