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As more than 100,000 Americans have died due to the coronavirus and a record number of 36 million unemployment claims have been filed in the two months since the pandemic began sweeping the country, another crisis looms: mental health.
A recent poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that nearly half of Americans have reported that the coronavirus pandemic has harmed their mental health due to anxiety and depression relating to general instability, financial insecurity, uncertainty, and isolation. In April, a federal emergency emotional distress hotline operated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration saw an 1,000% increase in texts in April alone, with more than 20,000 people contacting the number.
The crisis is hitting here at home, too. Since reporting the state's first confirmed cases in March, Michigan coronavirus deaths have exceeded 5,000.
To help serve metro Detroiters with mental health concerns, the team at Northeast Integrated Health has opened a psychiatric urgent care in Detroit, offering a range of services six days a week.
“People living with mental illness face additional challenges dealing with COVID-19 from managing anxiety, understanding social isolation to accessing healthcare and medications,” CEO and president of NIH Sherry McRill told Michigan Chronicle. “Opening an urgent care facility is an accessible alternative to meet the unique needs of individuals and decrease emergency room experiences and potential COVID-19 exposure.”
The urgent care, located at 1800 E. Warren Ave., Detroit, offers walk-in services and bills itself as a judgment-free zone for those experiencing anxiety, depression, grief, or suicidal thoughts. The center, which provides crisis intervention as well as medication reviews and psychiatric assessments, can also assist those in need of peer support or non-ER transport.
Northeast Integrated Health's psychiatric urgent care is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
To learn more, call 313-824-5623 or visit nihdetroit.org.
Additionally, if you or someone you know is in need of help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255 or text 741-741) which provides free and confidential emotional support 24/7.
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