More adolescents in the Lewiston area are seeking mental health services following the suicide death of a middle school student in May. Providers say the increased demand highlights the need for more clinicians, and more openness about mental illness.
Immediately after it became known that the Lewiston Middle School student had taken her own life, Tri-County Mental Health Services in Lewiston doubled its mobile crisis program staff from three to six. Executive Director Catherine Ryder says while she hasn’t had time to track numbers, it’s clear that more people are seeking help.
“One of the things we wanted to make certain of was that we had enough staff to go out into the community. And we were also adamant that anyone who walked through the doors of the agency would be seen that day,” she says.
A few miles away at St Mary’s hospital in Lewiston, which has a Behavioral Emergency Department, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Michael Kelley says they’ve had more admissions for depression and suicide since the student’s death.
“Specifically in that age group, early teens, 12- to 14-year-old kids, from this area,” he says.
The uptick in demand, says some providers, underscores the need for mental health services in general. The most recent data from the Maine Center for Disease Control show that suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages 10-24 in both Maine and the U.S.
But Kelley says there aren’t enough clinicians to provide immediate help for those who need it.
“We’ve got at St. Mary’s now three child psychiatrists and another two or three nurse practitioners that treat psychiatric patients, but even with those six providers, it may be a two-month waiting list to get an appointment,” he says.
Lewiston in particular is an underserved region, says Dr. Marc Kaplan, the medical director of Sweetser, which provides mental health services across the state. Kaplan says Sweetser’s waitlists for psychiatric services can span up to six weeks.
“There’s certainly a waitlist for all ages. However, for the most part it’s still more challenging to find someone that is trained and confident in providing psychiatric care for children and adolescents,” he says.
Kaplan says it’s challenging to recruit qualified mental health providers to Maine, in large part because of the state’s Medicaid reimbursement rates.
“Many of these rates to mental health centers have not changed in 10 years,” he says.
Within the past year, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services has sought to reduce some of those rates even further. But a bill before the Maine Legislature aims to block those cuts and reverse the decline.
Jenna Mehnert of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Maine, or NAMI, says the state does need to attract more qualified clinicians. But she also sees a huge need for parents, teachers and others community members to be able to identify kids who need help early.
That starts, she says, with open conversations.
“I do think that we need to fundamentally have a culture change in how we talk about mental health. We don’t generally talk about mental health until we reach the crisis point,” Mehnert says.
The Lewiston school district is holding its second community forum on Monday night as part of its response to the suicide. Later in June, the district will hold a private meeting with mental health providers to review school protocols and consider possible changes.
For mental health help or resources, click here to access NAMI Maine's Information and Referral Helpline. If you or someone you know is in crisis, click here to access the Maine Crisis Hotline or call 888-568-1112.
