No. It’s not a new virus.

Thursday’s WSJ ‘Opinion’ page had a Daniel Henninger piece on “The Mental Illness Pandemic.” Thinking it could be hyperbole, I checked with some of my insurance company friends and learned:

• there’s been a 31% increase in mental health ER visits
• 46% of kids have shown signs of new or worsening MH conditions
• 2021 surveys show 1 in 3 Americans are depressed
• Wisconsin ranks #1 in the nation for excessive drinking!

I could go on.

Fittingly, May is Mental Health Awareness month.

That gives me (again, thanks to our insurers) a chance to deliver some good news:

• For many, there’s a stigma to seeking traditional care, which no doubt accounts for the fact that 50% of psychiatry and 30% of substance abuse visits are now through telehealth
• In Wisconsin, there’s been an increase in the number of mental health providers and (not coincidentally) a decrease in teen suicides.

Again, I could go on.

Note that since the passage of The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), health plans cover mental illness the same as any other condition.

Learn more from the National Institute of Mental Health and for immediate help in a crisis, click HERE.