Posted on April 7, 2020
Yahoo! News
The rapid spread of the coronavirus has dramatically affected the one in five Americans who deal with mental health in any given year, as well as those who work tirelessly to keep those individuals well. Already, NAMI, the largest grassroots mental health organization in the country, has increased staffing on its helpline to from 10 to 40 volunteers in order to keep up with increased demand, said Dr. Ken Duckworth, the group’s chief medical officer. “The volume is substantially up. People are anxious, and people are looking for support.”
READ MOREPosted on April 3, 2020
NPR The Pulse Podcast
The COVID-19 outbreak is creating increased demand for mental health services — lots of people are feeling anxious or getting depressed. At the same time, traditional mental health services have been disrupted. In-person sessions are not possible, nor are group sessions. We take a look at mental health services and what people are doing to stay well during these difficult times. The episode includes Dawn Brown, director of community engagement for NAMI, discussing NAMI’s guide for dealing with the fallout of COVID-19.
READ MOREPosted on April 2, 2020
Center for Public Integrity
Reports that amid the coronavirus pandemic, hotlines in the U.S. are seeing a spike in activity. Before COVID-19, 150 calls would be a big day, said Dawn Brown, the NAMI HelpLine director. Now it’s surpassing that number daily. “It’s continuing to go up,” she said, adding that nearly half the callers at some point mention the virus. Callers to NAMI’s line are sharing feelings of anxiety and depression as well as asking for advice about how to continue treatment and get medicine refilled during stay-at-home orders.
READ MOREPosted on April 1, 2020
Bloomberg News
Life during a pandemic has even the most resilient drowning in new levels of stress. The sudden and growing need for care has left mental health providers overwhelmed. One problem: There aren’t enough therapists to go around. “Demand has increased substantially for American mental health, and our supply hasn’t changed in a meaningful way,” says Ken Duckworth, CMO for NAMI. “It’s not really a system,” he says of the U.S. mental health infrastructure. “It’s a patchwork quilt of individuals and well-meaning policy people trying to provide large numbers of services to large numbers of people in a payment structure that is varied and complex. It’s quite a challenge.”
READ MOREPosted on March 27, 2020
U.S. News & World Report
Reports on how telemedicine and teletherapy coverage has been broadly expanded amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts are now increasingly recommending turning to telehealth, including telemedicine and teletherapy, as the first option for most non-emergency care. Last week was “the biggest week in telehealth policy in American history,” says Dr. Ken Duckworth, chief medical officer of NAMI.
READ MOREPosted on March 27, 2020
Yahoo! Lifestyle
Reports that crisis intervention organizations across the nation have seen a dramatic surge in people seeking mental-health services as anxiety grows about the coronavirus pandemic. “Many people are feeling anxiety or fear, or an acute sense of vulnerability if you happen to have respiratory vulnerability or are immunocompromised,” Ken Duckworth, chief medical officer of NAMI, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. The Crisis Textline has seen a 116% spike in the volume of texts received in the last week due to coronavirus.
READ MOREPosted on March 27, 2020
Newsweek
An ABC News/Washington Post survey found that 70% of people were experiencing stress as a result of the new coronavirus outbreak. That compares to the March 2009 peak of 61% reporting stress during the last recession. Dr. Ken Duckworth, chief medical officer of NAMI, told Newsweek "a lot of people" are calling the helpline at the moment. Duckworth said those with existing mental health problems are now dealing with the added stress related to the coronavirus pandemic and the myriad problems stemming from it.
READ MOREPosted on March 25, 2020
CBS News
During his daily press briefing on COVID-19 in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo took a moment to focus on an often-forgotten aspect of the pandemic: mental health. Cuomo announced that 6,175 mental health professionals have signed up to provide free online mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. "This is increased anxiety for everyone," said Dr. Ken Duckworth, chief medical officer of NAMI.
READ MOREPosted on March 25, 2020
Today.com
Every day the news sounds overwhelming. And staying at home might worsen symptoms of loneliness or depression. “People want to get support during this very tumultuous time,” Dr. Ken Duckworth, chief medical officer at NAMI told TODAY. “Everybody is vulnerable to (COVID-19). There's no population that is immune to this. It’s important to keep in mind that we're all in this together and you're not alone.”
READ MOREPosted on March 24, 2020
BBC World News
Dr. Ken Duckworth, chief medical officer, provides an on-air interview for the BBC World News London evening edition on coping with physical distancing and social isolation due to COVID-19.
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NAMI HelpLine is available M-F, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. ET. Call 800-950-6264,
text “helpline” to 62640, or chat online. In a crisis, call or text 988 (24/7).
