There is a growing cultural awareness of mental health in the United States, with more people than ever encountering mental health issues and seeking professional treatment.
In 2022, 59.3 million adults age 18 or older in the U.S. experienced some sort of mental illness – that’s approximately 23.1% of the adult population, according to research published by the National Institutes of Health. The same study found that 50.6% of them received mental health treatment in the past year, with young people aged 18 to 25 showing a treatment rate of 49.1%.
On a regional level, Laura Pleiman, director of community services and programs for Boone County, said she’s noticed an increased demand for mental health services.
“There is an increased demand and an awareness, too, that … the ‘suck it up and handle it’ [approach] isn’t going to work in these instances, an awareness that this is a legitimate crisis, it’s a mental health issue,” Pleiman said. “It’s about health, and so how can we resolve those issues? By seeking treatment as appropriate.”
According to Pleiman, one of the highest barriers to obtaining mental health services is cost. A study published by the Association of American Medical Colleges found that 30% of people reported they were not able to receive care because their health insurance did not cover any mental health services.
Despite the associated costs, numerous organizations in Northern Kentucky help income-disadvantaged people afford mental health care services. NorthKey Community Care is one of the preeminent mental health services in the region. The organization provides outpatient counseling and therapy services.
NorthKey’s chief of clinical services, Jennifer Miller, said that organizations like hers can serve people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford them by providing them with adequate care and individualized treatment.
NorthKey has an established 24/7 hotline for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis, as well as crisis stabilization services to help people facing high-stress situations. These services can help people avoid expensive hospitalizations and maintain treatment progress.
“We will work with any of the folks that need care to figure out what is appropriate for their financial situation and how we may be able to work with them,” Miller said. “All of our services are available to low-income individuals, and we have a whole variety of them – so anything from outpatient therapy, psychiatry, primary care services – we have crisis services that are available to anyone in the community at any time.”
From Miller’s perspective, one of the key aspects of improving regional mental health outcomes is to increase awareness. This includes destigmatizing mental health conditions and societal pressures, both factors that could dissuade an at-risk individual from seeking help.
“Different cultural groups continue to have beliefs that mental health is not a real issue, and so that gets pushed out there as a narrative that it’s all made up,” Miller said. “That continues to persist, as well as the belief that somehow mental health disorders don’t need treatment and that you’re just a bad person – you have to figure it out. We know that that’s quite the opposite of the truth.”
Regarding affordability, Pleiman said both public and private resources are available. This includes expanded coverage for mental health services through the Affordable Care Act.
“We have had increased insurance availability,” Pleiman said. “More and more individuals have that resource available to them after they passed through the Affordable Care Act, but there still are some that are falling through those cracks.”
Gaps in coverage are filled locally through several regional organizations, which often receive funding from public entities. Boone County, for example, allocates funding to social service agencies to boost their community assistance programs.
Each year, the Boone County Fiscal Court approves midyear tax fund allocations to social service agencies in the county and across Northern Kentucky. The funding comes from the county’s aging, intellectual disabilities and mental health payroll tax. Organizations that use these funds include residential treatment centers, emergency shelters and counseling service providers.
Created in 1986, the tax is a 0.0015% occupational license fee capped at $25 annually for people employed in Boone County. The money may be used only by Boone County residents.
“When we fund those organizations, we want to meet that need and bridge that,” Pleiman said.
