Mental health toll of the unemployment crisis
NEW YORK - The National Alliance on Mental Illness of New York City is seeing an increase in calls from people becoming anxious and depressed as unemployment numbers continue skyrocketing.
"The surge in unemployment that we're seeing is absolutely going to contribute to a mental health crisis," executive director Matt Kudish said. "This is trauma. This is a traumatic experience."
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is also concerned. The number of people contacting the national hotline has increased tenfold since the coronavirus pandemic started. The cell phone texting helpline has increased by about 40%.
Dr. Christine Moutier, the chief medical officer of the foundation, said that just as there are stages of grief after a death, there are stages after losing a job during a crisis.
"What follows can be a period of disillusionment, grief, some cynical attitudes," she said. "And we talk about quarantine fatigue right now where people are getting restless."
And the impact on mental health can have long-term effects.
NAMI-NYC's Kudish pointed to data collected after the financial crisis in 2008 as people watched family, friends and neighbors lose their jobs and homes.
"Even if you didn't get laid off, just living through that experience of wondering if you will and not knowing and the fear and anxiety around that," Kudish said. "That lasted for 10 years."
Experts say more federal funding is needed in the mental health system and crisis hotlines. In addition, the COVID-19 law allowing mental health therapies for the first time via telemedicine from home must continue.
"We cannot go backward on that," Moutier said. "That is allowing everyday people to have access to mental health care like we have never had before."
Both the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) have free programs and services.
You can also learn more about mental health issues and resources here.