WITH MENTAL HEALTH.
JUST ABOUT THREE MILES SEPARATES, MICHELLE FROM LORI TO
BALTIMORE COUNTY WOMEN WHO DON’T KNOW EACH OTHER BUT WHO SHARE A
LEVEL OF DEEP EMOTIONAL DISCOMFORT EXACERBATED BY THE
PANDEMIC.
IT’S HARD TO GET EXCITED FOR THINGS.
IT’S HARD TO HAVE SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO AN NOTHING IS
GUARANTEED.
NOTHING WORKS LIKE IT USED TO IT’S SUCH A HEART-WRENCHING
FEELING.
TO HAVE YOUR DEPRESSION COME DOWN ON YOU?
SO HEAVY.
AND PUT YOU IN SUCH A DOG PLACE MICHELLE A RETIRED HOME HEALTH
AIDE HAS BATTLED DEPRESSION FOR YEARS AND LIKE MANY
SELF-MEDICATED BEFORE BECOMING CLEAN AND SOBER ALMOST TWO AND A
HALF YEARS AGO.
BUT IN QUARANTINE VITAL MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT ACCESSED ONLY
VIRTUALLY THROUGH HER PHONE JUST MADE HER FEEL MORE ALONE BECAUSE
IT HAD ME IN SUCH A DARK PLACE AND AND IT WASN’T GOOD, YOU KNOW
TO THE POINT WAS THOUGH.
I JUST DIDN’T WANT TO DO NOTHING NEARBY AND WORKING A NEW JOB
FROM HOME LORI FACES ANXIETY AND SADNESS CONCERNED ABOUT HER
ADULT CHILDREN WHO LOST HOUSING JOBS AND TIME IN COLLEGE.
THE DARKEST PART IS THEM SEEING FUTURE JUST KIND OF WOBBLE AS A
MOTHER OF ADULT CHILDREN THE SAME AGE AS LORRIES.
I GET IT.
LORI ALSO TOLD ME SHE STRUGGLES WITH SLEEP AND SOMETIMES FINDING
HOPE YASSA FELIX COMPLETELY UNMORED, YOU KNOW, YOU DON’T
WANT TO MAKE TOO MANY PLANS FOR THE FUTURE BECAUSE YOU DON’T
KNOW WHAT’S GONNA HAPPEN DURING THE PANDEMIC FOR IN 10 ADULTS
REPORTED SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY OR DEPRESSION UP FROM ONE IN TEN
THE YEAR BEFORE ACCORDING TO THE KAISER FAMILY AND THE CDC.
SOME THERAPISTS LIKE BRYCE HOODAK NOW HAVE WEIGHTLESS AT
ITS HIGH POINT 50 PEOPLE WERE IN A QUEUE FOR HELP LOSING JOBS
LOSING, YOU KNOW FRIENDSHIPS RELATIONSHIPS BEING STUCK IN
ISOLATION.
I MEAN, THERE’S A WHOLE WORLD OF TRAUMA THAT FOLLOWS THAT I DON’T
THINK THERE’S REALLY ANY PARTICULAR DEMOGRAPHIC THAT THIS
DOES NOT AFFECT AT THE GARDENSIA DRUG AND ALCOHOL TREATMENT
PROGRAM A REGIONAL DIRECTOR TOLD ME OF UNPRECEDENTED RELAPSES
LIKE AN 81 YEAR OLD MAN WHO HAD BEEN SOBER FOR THREE DECADES,
BUT FELL APART AFTER LOSING HIS SISTER AND SON TO COVID SO IT
WAS REALLY DEVASTATING.
I THINK THE FEAR FOR US AS PROVIDERS IS THERE’S PROBABLY A
LOT MORE OF HIM OUT IN THE COMMUNITY BECAUSE ISOLATION IS
AN ENEMY OF RECOVERY.
MILES NOW ARE VERY DIFFERENT THAN THEY WERE, YOU KNOW, TWO OR
THREE YEARS AGO.
IT WAS VERY DIFFERENT.
THERE IS A MUCH DIFFERENT SENSE OF ANGST.
I’M HERE.
I’M HEALTHY MICHELLE DID NOT SUFFER A RELAPSE.
SHE TOLD ME FAMILY WAS A BIG HELP AND EVENTUALLY SHE GREW
COMFORTABLE WITH TELEHEALTH.
YOU ARE A BRAVE WOMAN.
THANK YOU AND SO FULL OF LIGHT I HAVE TO BE BECAUSE I WAS AN
ADULT FOR SO LONG.
I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO REALLY NORMALIZE.
ELEPHANT EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS AND THAT WE ALL CAN YOU SUPPORT
LORI BELIEVES REMOVING THE MASK THAT HAS LONG SHIELDED MENTAL
HEALTH ISSUES IS VITAL AND EVEN THOUGH SHE CONSIDERED CANCELING
OUR INTERVIEW.
SHE LIKE MICHELLE BRAVELY SHARED HER STRUGGLES, AND I KNOW THAT
THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO WON’T EXHALE TO HELP
OR TO SEE IT AS AN ADMISSION OF WEAKNESS.
AND I DON’T WANT THEM TO SEE IT THAT WAY.
I WANT THEM TO LET THESE GOOD PEOPLE WHO WANT TO HELP YOU HELP
THEM.
THAT WAS DEBORAH WEINER REPORTING FOR US TONIGHT, AND WE
DO WANT TO THANK LORI AND AND WE MICHELLE FOR THEIR CANDOR.
WE KNOW THEY ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS WE ARE SO FORTUNATE TO HAVE
MANY MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES IN MARYLAND.
THERE IS A GROWING LIST ON WBAL TV.COM AND ON THE MOBILE APP FOR
A MEDIANT EMERGENCY MENTAL HEALTH ASSISTANCE.
YOU CAN CALL 911 AND THIS SUNDAY IN OUR 9 AM HOUR OUR PEACE OF
MIND SEGMENT FOCUSES ON HANDLING ANXIETY ASSOCIATED WITH
RETURNING.