User:Sunsetllover/Mental Health in Hawaii

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=== Mental Health, a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being, is a very important topic in today’s society that does not get paid enough attention to. This article will go into detail about mental health in Hawaii, specifically. ===

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Hawaii’s Mental Health Statistics

Out of Hawaii’s entire population of approximately 1.4 million people, close to 3.2 percent of adults in Hawaii live with serious mental health conditions; such mental health conditions include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression. Out of all the adults that struggle to live with these mental health conditions, 31.8 percent of these adults seek treatment while the other 68.2 percent receive nothing. Similarly, 67.5 percent of youth in Hawaii that deal with similar issues don’t get any mental health treatment. Consequently, Hawaii is ranked as the 47th worst state in the nation regarding the way states handle mental health disorders and treating them.

Mental Health Treatment in Hawaii

There are public mental health services in Hawaii which are administered by the State of Hawaii Department of Health. However, these services are not so impressive. There are only two psychiatrists in public practice on the island of Oahu who are willing to treat new patients covered by the state’s public health insurance for low-income people. Oftentimes people have to wait up to months to get an appointment with one of these psychiatrists. In 2017, Hawaii was short more than 750 physicians across the medical field. Unfortunately, filling this void is nearly impossible as it would require the state of Hawaii to increase its physician workforce by about 25 percent. It is common that people in mental health crises fly to Oahu for treatment. However, as stated previously, there are only two psychiatrists on Oahu, so when all the state’s psychiatric beds are full, which happens from time to time, there is no place for these neighbor island patients to go.

Covid’s Impacts on Mental Health in Hawaii

During the COVID 19 pandemic, people that received mental health treatment in Hawaii were able to use resources such as Telehealth to keep up with their visits virtually. People were dealing with mental health issues and seeking treatment more than ever as they felt isolated and depressed during quarantine in the pandemic. A lot of depression and anxiety that started during the pandemic is rooted in financial distress created by the circumstances that the virus created. Unemployment rates in Hawaii skyrocketed during the pandemic, which left people anxious about supporting themselves and their families. A survey was conducted from January to December of 2020 which reported frequent thoughts of suicide; Hawaii scored the highest percentage of any date with 41 percent.

The Hawaii Coordinated Access Resource Entry System, a hotline for those in need of mental health or substance use disorder help in Hawaii, reported that they received 140,000 calls in 2020 (the heat of the COVID 19 pandemic). It is clear that more Hawaiians than ever have seeked mental health help during the pandemic.