The Hill event examines increasing mental health, SUD issues amid COVID-19

The Hill event examines increasing mental health, SUD issues amid COVID-19

Posted on June 25, 2021

For every suicide in this country, there are at least 29 attempts. Heroin addiction and overdose deaths have been on the rise since the pandemic began, which is not a coincidence, given that many people are using drugs as a way of self-medicating to mask mental health issues. During a livestreamed event last week led by The Hill and sponsored by The Hartford, Chris Swift, chairman and CEO of The Hartford, noted the importance of a stigma-free culture. Swift spoke about The Hartford's partnership with both the NAMI and Shatterproof. NAMI reports that untreated mental illness costs the U.S. economy $300 billion annually in lost productivity, absenteeism, turnover and increased medical and disability costs. Daniel H. Gillison Jr., NAMI CEO discussed the significance of the upcoming 988 crisis line, set to be operational in July 2022. “988 is a transformative opportunity for us,” said Gillison. “The demand to address mental health challenges was tremendous even before the pandemic and has gone up as we are living in isolation and seeing things occur in terms of COVID,” he said. The supply of resources was also limited, Gillison noted. “A lot of work needs to happen,” he said. “On the front end, there are not enough resources to stand it up,” he said. Conversely, Gillison noted, on the back end, it raises the question: Where do you take the person in crisis? “We have to build it up on the back end and build the talent on the front end to provide responses,” he said. “It's going to take all of us talking about it and marshalling the resources to make it a reality,” he added.