Mental health care for all: let’s make it a reality #WorldMentalHealthDay
Today is World Mental Health Day. The theme is "Mental health care for all: let's make it a reality. So how do we make this a reality here in the Cayman Islands. If you are one of the blessed to have adequate health insurance coverage, then you may be able to access the resources you require if you need mental health care, however it is likely that your coverage is limited and if you have a chronic or longterm treatment program then you are likely to find yourself eventually paying out of pocket or stopping your treatment prematurely. However the fact is that a significant number of persons in this country are without coverage, and it often includes our most vulnerable - children, the disabled, the elderly. For our youth, they are dependent on their parents coverage which often is not much if any. So what happens if you are in crisis and in need of help - what are the resources available to you, or how do you even access those resources? Well this is were I believe we need to start, to make mental health care accessible to everyone.
We need to educate our community of the resources available to them. We need to properly train our response uniform services how to interact with persons in mental health crisis and what is actionable based on the Mental Health Law (2013). We need to make access to mental health care insurance coverage reasonable, and eliminate the red tape and overwhelming paperwork. For the individual in crisis, they are not in a state to mentally make the decisions at that time and for the family dealing with the person in crisis, they are likely emotionally stressed and need guidance on how to get help for their loved one, not be given excuses by those who are suppose to be helping. We need to be advocates for those who don't have a voice or understand how the navigate the system. We need to make access to evidence-based therapeutic care less complicated. We have several resources in this community which are free to those in need and we need to as a community work on de-stigmatizing mental health illness, so our people are more encouraged to seek help. So will you join the movement in educating and advocating for mental health care for everyone - we all go through stuff, it's life, but we don't have to accept being stuck in the darkness or try to get out of it alone. There is help - you just need to ask.
Some of the Free Resources in our Community:
The Counseling Centre 1 (345)-949-8789 https://www.dcs.gov.ky/tcc/
Mental Health Helpline 1-800-534-6463 (MIND)
The Family Resource Centre on dcfs.gov.ky/frc
Mental Health Helpline for Children 1 (345) 649-KIDS (5437)
Alex Panton Foundation (APF) Support Resources https://alexpantonfoundation.ky
APF Teen Talk https://alexpantonfoundation.ky/teen-talk/
APF Breaking Barriers https://alexpantonfoundation.ky/support/
Loud Silent Voices https://www.facebook.com/MHFSGVoices/
Taya Lounge https://www.facebook.com/TayaLounge/
To learn more on how you can access resources in the community email info@lifeoptions.ky