State mental health chief anticipates surge of mental illnesses

The chief of the state’s mental-health agency said last week he anticipates a surge of mental illnesses this fall in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Neal Bowen, director of the New Mexico Behavior Health Services Division, said during a webinar Sept. 29 that anxiety, depression, insomnia and psychological distress have been rising across the United States months after the pandemic began.

Human Services Secretary David Scrase also said during a governor’s briefing Thursday that several other countries have seen a “tsunami” of behavioral-health issues after the pandemic.

Bowen said in late June, 40% of people struggled with mental illness or substance abuse, which was more than double the usual rate of 18% to 19%.

He said 11% of people also seriously considered suicide, also much higher than normal.

He said because New Mexico generally has higher numbers of mental illness and suicide, these trends likely would become more acute here.

During his presentation, Bowen displayed a map that shows Quay County has a suicide rate of 41 per 100,000 people, one of the highest rates in the state. Only Catron and Hidalgo counties showed higher rates in New Mexico.

That compares to the state average of 22.9 suicides per 100,000 people and the national average of 13 per 100,000 people.

According to data from 2008 to 2014 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Quay County had a suicide rate of 14.2 to 16.68 per 100,000 people — less than one-half of the most recent number.

Bowen said about 20% of suicides are attributable to unemployment,which has risen sharply during the pandemic.

Outpatient mental-health services fell sharply during the pandemic. In anticipation of a mental-illness surge and in an effort to provide stopgap treatment, Bowen said the state has boosted its advocacy of telephone-related treatment, especially in rural areas that lack many options for healthcare.

Scrase said the telephone or videoconferencing model for such care has proved effective in many instances.

Bowen encouraged anyone showing signs of a mental illness or concerns about it to call the NM Crisis Line at 855-622-7474.