Mental health experts reach out to help as pandemic drags on

NEW JERSEY - Richard Scuderi's mission was always meaningful, but it’s even more important now, as millions of people cope with mental health issues brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I want to focus the rest of my life helping to stop the stigma of anxiety and depression," he says.

Once a month, Scuderi leads a conversation about mental health at the Hunterdon County Library in Clinton, NJ, joined by licensed professional counselor Ruth Altamura-Roll.

"My practice has really gotten much larger as a consequence because more people are struggling with depression and anxiety and need someplace just to talk. I don't think there are enough therapists right now to handle the mental health fallout from the pandemic," Altamura-Roll said.

Scuderi launched the support group several years ago after publishing a self-help book called, "The Lonely Boy," based on his own battle with anxiety and depression.

It sold out just three weeks after hitting the shelves in 2017.

"What was happening after I wrote this book, people were calling me, texting me, they were sending me letters; they showed up at my house. People said, ‘I want to know how you got through it,’" Scuderi mentions.

According to a study published by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 4 in 10 U.S. adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depression since the start of the pandemic.

That’s up from 1 in 10 between January and June of 2019.

Lindsay Mancilla, who lives in nearby Tewksbury, says she can relate.

"This pandemic is like taking ten steps back," Manclla says.

"Then there’s another thing. I worry for my children and grandchildren. it's not that I just have to worry about me and my husband. Now it’s more," she adds.

Even though Scuderi’s monthly meetings now happen under strict social distancing guidelines, his message hasn’t changed: No matter what you may be going through, you don’t have to do it alone.