May Behavioral Health Bulletin

Behavioral Health Bulletin

Issue 18, May 2023

May is Mental Health Awareness Month – an opportunity for us to reflect on the work we do every day to build awareness of, and access to, mental health and substance use treatment and care.

Before diving into this issue’s content—healthy social engagement and social media use in light of the recent advisories issued by both the Surgeon General and the American Psychological Association (APA)—we’d like to take a moment to reflect on some of the work Mount Sinai Health Partners has done to expand access to care and increase our providers’ knowledge, expertise, and confidence in managing behavioral health conditions.

We launched Mind Matters, a CME-accredited behavioral health learning collaborative, in May 2021 and have held 20 meetings to date. Any care provider who sees patients with behavioral or mental health care needs is welcome to attend and/or submit a case. Each meeting focuses on a different topic and uses patient cases to present concepts and examples. Past meetings have covered subjects such as medication management for depression and anxiety, identifying and treating feeding and eating disorders, and engaging patients and families in destigmatized substance use care. We encourage all to join us for our remaining meetings this year in June, September, and December.

Our Referral Access Program has continued to scale through the Clinically Integrated Network (CIN) over the last two years. Through the program’s partner network of both Mount Sinai psychiatry clinics, as well as community-based treatment providers, we are successfully helping to improve access to timely behavioral health care.

We also launched our Primary Care Behavioral Health program in March of 2023. Through this program, we have begun to offer integrated behavioral health services in key primary care sites. Interventions include short-term therapy focused on symptom reduction, health behavior change, self-management, and overall improvement in quality of life.

We look forward to sharing outcomes from these programs in future newsletters as we continue to grow, develop, and scale across the health system.

Loneliness and Isolation in a Connected World

We have known social connection to be a basic human need since the earliest days of human history: Aristotle famously called [hu]man[s] social animals in his 4th century political philosophy, and we have countless examples of convivality, diverse family structures, and mutual cooperation in the succeeding centuries. The isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic drove this point home even further as people around the world sought new ways of engaging with friends, family, and strangers in a wholly virtual world.

Despite life in an ever-connected world, loneliness and isolation persist, with serious public health implications. Earlier this month Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared loneliness a public health threat requiring individual, community, and societal policy and action.

Join us for the next Mind Matters ECHO

Our next Mind Matters ECHO meeting will be held on June 12, 2023 from 5:30-7:00pm. Virna Little, PsyD, LCSW-r will be speaking on collaborative care in managing chronic pain.

Join Us

If you have a case you'd like to share for consultation and support, please email Anitha Iyer, PhD, Course Director.

Please note that these meetings are now quarterly. We will also meet in September and December of this year.

Healthy social media consumption

Social media is pervasive in modern life: about 70% of Americans use social media and among those users, 60-70% use it daily.

The APA recently issued recommendations for healthy social media use among adolescents and tips for parents to supervise and discuss social media use with their children.

Problematic use of social media is not limited to adolescents, however. Signs that your patients of any age may be using social media in maladaptive ways can be:

Interference in daily life activities such as school, work, friendships, and hobbies
Choosing social media over in-person social activities
Interference with adequate sleep and physical activity
Continued use of social media despite a desire to stop
Strong cravings to check social media
Lying or deceiving behaviors to spend time online

Mitch Prinstein, PhD, APA Chief Science Officer, shares some answers to common questions about social media literacy.

Loneliness and its impact on cardiovascular disease: a cohort study of older women in the US

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death of US women, accounting for 1 out of every 5 deaths. Many older adults contend with social isolation and loneliness as they face retirement, deaths of friends and family, and decreased daily living activities.

MSHS-Psychiatry-GeriatricPsychiatry-2col-770x420 image

The authors of this recent cohort study found social isolation and loneliness to be independently associated with increased risk for CVD among older women in the US, even after adjusting for health behaviors and outcomes.

Comorbid depression, anxiety, and chronic diseases and their clinical complexities

Physical and mental health are closely intertwined, and depression and anxiety can be chronic and debilitating disorders that severely impact patients’ functioning and quality of life.

Numerous epidemiological studies have shown that patients with chronic medical diseases such as diabetes, heart failure, and COPD have an increased risk for depression. At the same time, there is strong evidence that people with depression are at higher risk of developing other chronic illnesses.

The relationship between depression, anxiety, and chronic medical disease can be complex: overlapping symptoms can influence severity, treatment adherence, and outcomes. Stigma, shame, and even lack of awareness may prevent a patient from providing a full and accurate account of their symptoms.

In our most recent Condition Management Tip of the Month Drs. Anitha Iyer and X. Shirley Chen share resources and tips for screening for, diagnosing, and managing depression and anxiety in non-behavioral health care settings.

New on the Blog: Access to Behavioral Health Care with Dr. David Brody

Dr. David Brody, a psychiatrist in private practice, joins Anitha Iyer, PhD, Director of Behavioral Health Population Management for a conversation on mental and behavioral health access and availability.

Dr. Brody discusses his interest in improving access to mental health services in primary care and highlights the importance of collaboration and education in addressing clinical themes and reducing stigma surrounding psychiatric disorders. He also emphasizes the impact of the pandemic on mental health, including among younger individuals.

Non-stigmatizing communication about mental health

It's no secret that there is high stigma surrounding mental health which can be incredibly harmful to people living with mental health conditions and interfere with their treatment and recovery.

The CDC offers a variety of provider resources on mental health literacy, including a CME course from the University of Texas at Austin on stigma-free communication about mental health.

Information to share with your patients: adolescent development

Peruse the Mount Sinai Health Library for information to share with your patients. With over 100 psychiatry topics presented in patient-friendly language, the Health Library can be a valuable source for your patients to understand their diagnoses.

This month, share information about adolescent development with your patients.

P: 877-234-6667

F: 646-537-1481

E: MSHP@mountsinai.org

Provider Engagement Team