Texas’s damaged psychological well being system reaches Amarillo

Texas’s damaged psychological well being system reaches Amarillo

Health System

By Tony Foster, M.Ed.

Psychological Well being Advocate & Government Director of Amarillo Space Psychological Well being Customers

I lately attended a NAMI Texas Panhandle affiliate assembly, and the honorable Decide Nancy Tanner was the visitor speaker. Decide Tanner was touting the potential of a State Hospital being constructed within the Panhandle area. The very fact is we’re the one area in Texas that doesn’t have a Psychological Well being State Hospital that gives long-term look after folks struggling psychological crises.  

The assembly developed right into a assume tank as psychological well being stakeholders mentioned execs and cons of a State hospital, gaps within the native psychological well being system, and the way psychiatric service provision may very well be improved. Some constant themes materialized corresponding to treatments for employees shortages, incentives for psychological well being professionals, and a tradition change that emphasizes well being and existential objective.  

Texas’s damaged psychological well being system reaches Amarillo

All these concepts have benefit and deserve investigation, however as my grandma used to say, “you get what you pay for”. SAMSHA ranks Texas 49th out of fifty states in psychological well being spending per particular person (per capita). It’s necessary to notice that the Meadow’s Psychological Well being Coverage Institute disputes this declare stating that the SAMSHA analysis didn’t embrace Medicaid expenditures within the Texas rating. Nonetheless, the Meadow’s web site fails to tell their readers that Medicaid expenditures weren’t included within the information set for the opposite states as nicely. We are able to break up hairs, however the fact is Texas is, arguably, on the decrease finish of the totem pole in relation to psychological well being spending. It’s been that method for years, and denialism is a sedative that makes one drowsy with indifference.