News Clips
Mental health — and care options — in Colorado remain ‘distressing’ after years in survival mode
January 29, 2023
By: Debbie Kelly
Colorado no longer ranks as the worst state in the nation for the prevalence of mental illness and access to treatment for adults, a spot it held in the 2022 State of Mental Health in America report.—
The recently released 2023 report from Mental Health America places Colorado at 45th of 50 states and the District of Columbia for prevalence and access among adults.
The improvement is negligible, said Vincent Atchity, president and CEO at Mental Health Colorado, an affiliate of Mental Health America.
Read the full article ...
Colorado’s ambitious plan to reform eating disorder treatment facilities rolled back
April 30, 2023
By: Seth Klamman
Amid a surge in eating disorder diagnoses in Colorado, budget-minded lawmakers stripped language from a bill Monday that would’ve more tightly regulated facilities that treat the disease, a change welcomed by some providers and lamented by advocates.
“In my advocacy mind, that just goes to, OK, so we’re choosing not to regulate care because it’s going to cost us something,” said Vincent Atchity, the president and CEO of Mental Health Colorado. “And in the meantime, substandard or unmonitored care will continue.”
As ...
Colorado legislature lends focus to youths’ mental health
March 15, 2023
By: Jeanne Souldern
Mental Health Colorado (MHC) President Dr. Vincent Atchity spoke with The Sopris Sun recently about bills before the Colorado legislature focusing on “a strong start for all children.”
MHC is a Denver-based mental health advocacy nonprofit whose work Atchity describes as “looking at the health of the mind across the lifespan for everybody. When we talk about lifespan, it’s birth to death, with mental health being a feature throughout our lifetime.”
While quality mental health care for all may seem overwhelming, Atchity ...
How we reached a mental health crisis
February 8, 2023
By: Anusha Roy
The number of kids showing up in emergency departments in Colorado more than doubled in a recent five-year span, from 2,002 in 2016 to 5,168 in 2021.
A similar number of kids went to emergency departments between 2021 to 2022, meaning that while the number was leveling off, it began to flatten at a highly elevated level of need.
The state is short on resources, short on beds, and too often, families don't know where to turn in a moment of crisis.
Yet a look at history shows we've made the same mistakes over and ...
Once dead last in mental health metrics, Colorado experts search for lifelines
April 5, 2023
By: Jeanne Davant
The signs of mental illness are all around us, but often they’re scars we choose not to see. It’s the person sitting beside the creek, talking to himself. The single mother, unable to hold a job, who lives in her car.
It’s the teenager who becomes a suicide statistic, but it’s also a hidden disease. It’s your co-worker who puts on a game face but secretly, silently suffers.
Colorado ranked dead last in the 2022 Mental Health America report on prevalence of adult mental illness and mental health services — 51st among the ...
Care, not cuffs, for substance use | OPINION
February 9, 2023
By: Vincent Atchity
It’s no secret there is a significant and growing mental health and substance use crisis in Colorado. Though some are working to address this crisis, there remain entrenched systems, policies and attitudes that harm rather than help the most vulnerable in our communities. Coloradans of all ages experience grievous harm and die prematurely in association not only with their use of alcohol, opioids and other legal and illegal substances, but with the way our community’s systems respond to them and fail to reduce the terrible harms ...
This Mental Health Awareness Month, let’s shift from self care to system change
May 14, 2023
By: Vincent Atchity
It seems one of the few things that 90 percent of Americans will agree on these days is that we are in the midst of a mental health crisis. So, how can we translate this sentiment into concrete actions that improve mental health?
With Mental Health Awareness Month underway, there will surely be no shortage of articles promoting meditation apps, vacations and calming breath techniques. While individual-level interventions are necessary, they alone cannot achieve sustainable progress. It’s imperative that we shift our status quo ...
Experts say Colorado’s mental health care system is ‘failing’
July 14, 2023
By: Ryan Spencer
As the Summit County community processes the aftermath of an incident involving mental health issues where officers shot and killed an 18-year-old who police say pointed a weapon at officers, experts say young people need better access to mental health care to help prevent such tragedies.
Yet, demand for mental health services is higher than ever, straining the system in Colorado, which is already “one of the worst places in the country for accessing mental health care,” according to Mental Health Colorado President Vincent ...
The Longevity Project, Part 3: Mental health impacts of pandemic are multifaceted
September 12, 2021
By: Kari Dequine Harden
Local mental health care providers are seeing a higher patient load than ever. And nationally, research shows an increase in anxiety, depression, burnout, sadness and substance use since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is impacting our mental health,” said Lilia Luna, behavioral health director for Northwest Colorado Health. And the national trends “align with what we are seeing in Northwest Colorado.”
“It’s been a year unlike any other,” said Justin Ross, a licensed clinical psychologist and ...
EN ESPAÑOL Los estados tienen dinero para gastar en salud mental, pero quizá no dure
September 8, 2021
By: Sophie Quinton
DENVER — Colorado es conocido como la meca de la salud y la vida al aire libre. Sin embargo, un porcentaje de residentes estatales superior al promedio nacional lucha contra las enfermedades mentales, los pensamientos suicidas o el consumo excesivo de drogas o alcohol, según encuestas federales.
Read the full article in the Colorado Tribune
