Data indicates West Virginia consistently rates among states with the highest percentage of
people experiencing mental health problems, which can encompass issues like depression,
anxiety, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. According to measures used in U.S. News' 2021
Healthiest Communities rankings – an assessment of approximately 3,000 counties and county
equivalents in the U.S. across dozens of factors related to community health and well-being –
West Virginia has had one of the nation's highest rates of deaths of despair: fatalities attributed
to suicide, drug overdoses and alcohol-related disease. Nearly 19 percent of West Virginia
adults reported their mental health was not good for at least 14 days in a month, and nearly 1 in
4 Medicare beneficiaries in the state suffered from depression.
https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-09-01/west-virginia-almost-heavenbut-not-for-mental-health
Experts say West Virginians' poor mental health stems from a complex mix of problems,
including high rates of poverty and substance use coupled with a fierce, deep-seated culture of
independence that stigmatizes psychological help. But the state is also battling a shortage of
mental health providers, a gap that can become a potential life-or-death issue for those in
crisis…… West Virginia's poverty rate, for example, is 16% – some 5 percentage points higher
than the national mark. There's also unhealthy substance use in a state ravaged by the opioid
crisis, and West Virginia ranks among states with the highest rates of adult cigarette use……..
For some with behavioral health issues, "telepsychiatry" can be an attractive
option, Kessler says. "However even this is not an option for many West
Virginians due to lack of broadband in areas of the state as well as lack of
finances to afford" internet, smartphones or computers.
https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-09-01/west-virginia-almost-heavenbut-not-for-mental-health
This link has all of the graphs comparing west virginia to the rest of the U.S in areas such as
depression, substance absue, treatments etxc.
https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt32865/WestVirginia-BHBarometer_Volume6.pdf
Based off of 2021 stats: shows stats lost to suice, mental health, arrest etc.
https://www.nami.org/NAMI/media/NAMIMedia/StateFactSheets/WestVirginiaStateFactSheet.pdf
The African American community, in particular, suffers from an increased rate
of mental health concerns, including anxiety and depression. The department
of psychiatry at Columbia University, reported that African Americans are 20%
more likely to experience serious mental health problems, such as Major
Depressive Disorder or Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Additionally, young Black
adults (ages 18-25) also experience higher rates of mental health problems
and lower mental health resource utilization rates than young white adults and
older Black adults. https://blackbygod.org/articles/community/black-westvirginians-are-at-a-unique-disadvantage-when-it-comes-to-mental-health
"I would generally say that Appalachians are at a unique disadvantage. And
then under that, African Americans would be a little bit more disadvantaged.
Number one because for some of them, there's still a stigma attached to
seeking out mental health, the availability of affordable mental health,
anything to deal with them getting there, and working around a work schedule,
a family schedule, all those things," says Maureen Dillard, school counselor at
West Virginia Schools of Diversion and Transitions………. "I think a lot of people
with mental illness don't get diagnosed, and they don't even know they have
mental illness or don't care they got mental illness. Then they go to
substances to offset that mental illness, it makes them feel better, or they
don't have the capacity not to use these substances in some kind of way…I
think the judicial system is a little bit at fault, in that I think blacks don't get the
same opportunities to come to treatment, as much as the white criminal
defendants might get to come to treatment," Berkely says……… "I think West
Virginians, in general, are at a disadvantage because of lack of resources, lack
of professionals in the area… It's hard for West Virginia to even attract
professionals, and then you break it down into minority professionals. That's
even twice as hard because, first of all, minorities, especially black Americans,
make up such a small percentage of the population, to begin with. Then to
find maybe a very small percentage, of an already small percentage, that went
to college to be able to provide mental health services. That's even harder,"
Ogwude says.https://blackbygod.org/articles/community/black-westvirginians-are-at-a-unique-disadvantage-when-it-comes-to-mental-health
Danielle Lish is a social worker who provides therapy to kids in the
state’s upper panhandle. She has seen an increase in the number of
clients in need of emergency mental health care; these kids end up in
the emergency room for days because there’s nowhere to send them
in the state, she said.
“No matter how hard the social worker and nurses are working, they
just don’t have a bed,” Lish said. “The hospital stay devastates the
kids’ mental health. They’re in a crisis, and they’re experiencing very
serious symptoms, and they’re being told, ‘just to wait here.’”
Lish called on state lawmakers to pay attention to adolescent mental
health. “A lot of times symptoms of anxiety and depression are written
off as normal teen experiences, and that’s not the case,” she said.
https://thinkkidswv.org/schoolhealthdata2022/?utm_source=rss&utm_mediu
m=rss&utm_campaign=schoolhealthdata2022
West Virginia being the only state to decline in population:
https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/dec/popchange-datatext.html
Drig mortality in wv:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/drug_poisoning_mortality/dru
g_poisoning.htm
Shows how west virginia pays more out of pocket for mental health than the US causing more
barriers for getting help. https://www.kff.org/statedata/mental-health-and-substance-use-statefact-sheets/westvirginia/#:~:text=As%20shown%20in%20the%20figure%20below%2C%20in%20May%202022%2
C%20among,the%20U.S.%20average%20of%2028.2%25.