“Georgia’s data highlights significant gaps in mental health support … (revealing) many residents are left without the help they need. By … pursuing solutions such as expanded insurance coverage, greater investment in mental health services, and innovative strategies to address provider shortages, we can take meaningful steps toward closing these gaps.” — Brooks Lape, founder of Start Your Recovery
Gov. Brian Kemp and the GOP leadership of our state tout how well the state is doing regarding our economy.
Per Kemp, “Site selectors … have voted Georgia as the ‘Top State for Business.’”
Plus, there has been a push by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and the General Assembly to do away with income taxes for two-thirds of Georgians.
“We must expand on the progress made over the past four years to eliminate Georgia’s income tax,” Jones said.
A better strategy would be to invest our excess state funds in improving the physical and mental health of Georgians.
For example, on the health insurance side, we rank second in the percentage (11.4%) of uninsured compared to other states, according to the State Health Access Assistance Center. Only Texas (16.4%) has more uninsured than we do.
Many mentally ill Georgians simply do not have the resources to get treated. More on that and other indicators below.
How Ga. ranks among other vulnerable states
Credit: Courtesy Photo
Credit: Courtesy Photo
This column will zero in on mental health. Specifically, the Start Your Recovery organization did a comprehensive national study, creating a Mental Health Vulnerability Index.
The bad news is that Georgia ranks last among all 50 states. There is no good news other than that there is only one way to go … and that is up.
Here is how Georgia ranked nationally compared with the 10 most vulnerable states for mental health on specific criteria used to determine our overall score based on data sources that include Mental Health America, the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey and American Community Survey and America’s Health Ranking.
- Loneliness among residents: second-worst
- People experiencing depression: eighth-worst
- Unemployment: third-worst
- Mental health providers per capita: second-worst
- Mental health expenditures per capita: sixth-worst
- Percent uninsured: second-worst
This data reflects that our residents are having very serious healthcare problems. For example, nearly half of Georgians (45.5%) are lonely. That is a real-life issue that our political figures cannot and should not ignore.
More attention must be paid to homeless residents
Further, we have many homeless people on our streets, especially in Georgia’s larger cities.
According to national sources, a large proportion of these people have mental health problems, including substance abuse. Findings vary widely by study, “prevalence rates ranged from 56.3% to 93.3%.” However, it is clear that over half of the unhoused do have mental health issues that must be addressed.
Instead of politically motivated tax cuts and checks, our General Assembly and governor should be addressing this problem caused in part by the closing of Georgia’s mental health inpatient hospitals years ago.
As Georgia’s first director of health planning, I was a part of this effort in the 1980s. This topic will be addressed in a future column.
Jack Bernard was the first director of health planning for the state of Georgia. He served four terms on two county boards of health and is currently chair of the Fayette County Board of Health. He is also on the executive board of the Georgia Public Health Association.
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