\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSheridan Chester had a hard childhood. She grew up in an abusive home. At just 12 years old, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. \u201cMy sister attempted suicide when she was 7 for the first time,\u201d Chester said. \u201cWe knew we were in trouble. We always knew we were in trouble.” Over the years, Gulf Coast News has shared stories of people like Sheridan: people living with mental illness, but struggling to find the help they so badly need. The latest data from the National Institute of Mental Health shows more than 1 in 5 adults are living with a mental illness. Only half of those people received treatment in the past year. In 2022, in our 5-county region along the Gulf Coast, there was a rate of just 88.3 behavioral or mental health professionals per 100,000 residents. The target rate from experts in the area is 188.5 professionals per 100,000 residents. That means the region needs to add about 1,450 licensed professionals to meet the need. “The impact is life or death,\u201d Dawn Belamarich said. \u201cThe suicide rates go up. We have kids who sit on a waitlist for months to be seen by a provider. And, quite frankly, we have people in our community who can\u2019t access care.\u201d Belamarich is CEO of the Collaboratory, a community foundation serving Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry, and Glades counties. They\u2019ve worked to compile data and share it with the entities that offer mental health services in the region. \u201cIt\u2019s not as simple as just hiring 1,450 providers,\u201d Belamarich said. \u201cThere\u2019s insurance parameters. There\u2019s pay scales for providers and how much we pay therapists.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s challenging for the students to become licensed professionals,\u201d Nicole Liberto explained. \u201cIt\u2019s also challenging for their supervisors to be able to provide the necessary supervision.\u201d Liberto is with Lee Health, which is among the partners working to find solutions to the problem. It\u2019s a complicated issue that cascades to impact the entire community. Untreated mental health problems can lead to substance abuse, which can then lead to other issues \u2013 even homelessness. \u201cIt\u2019s just like any other medical disease. The longer you wait to treat, the worse it gets,\u201d Liberto said. \u201cWe\u2019re not in a good place. Florida\u2019s never been in a good place. You bring it down to Lee County, it gets even worse,\u201d Lauren Walker said. \u201cWe need everyone to be singing the same tune, which is that mental health deserves the attention and the dollars that we\u2019re not getting.\u201d Walker is CEO of the nonprofit Hope Clubhouse, a day program that serves as a community beyond the crisis for people living with mental illness. They are working to expand their current building to meet the growing need and also hope to add a second location soon. While the statistics are a serious concern, Walker has noticed one change for the better with mental health. \u201cPeople are talking about it now. And it’s not this hushed thing that can\u2019t be discussed,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt\u2019s, \u2018How can I help you? How can I lift you up?\u2019\u201d It\u2019s Hope Clubhouse that has helped lift up Sheridan Chester. She has been through so much \u2013 made it through so much \u2013 to get to where she is now. She’s proof that the right help can make all the difference. For that, she’s grateful. \u201cThere\u2019s so many things that God has given me,\u201d Chester said. “I am so grateful every morning, I thank you that you woke me up to another day. To experience something. To learn something. To share something. To be something.\u201d DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tFORT MYERS, Fla. \u2014<\/strong> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Sheridan Chester had a hard childhood. She grew up in an abusive home. At just 12 years old, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. <\/p>\n \u201cMy sister attempted suicide when she was 7 for the first time,\u201d Chester said. \u201cWe knew we were in trouble. We always knew we were in trouble.” <\/p>\n Over the years, Gulf Coast News has shared stories of people like Sheridan: people living with mental illness, but struggling to find the help they so badly need. <\/p>\n The latest data from the National Institute of Mental Health<\/a> shows more than 1 in 5 adults are living with a mental illness. Only half of those people received treatment in the past year. <\/p>\n In 2022, in our 5-county region along the Gulf Coast, there was a rate<\/a> <\/strong>of just 88.3 behavioral or mental health professionals per 100,000 residents. <\/p>\n The target rate from experts in the area is 188.5 professionals per 100,000 residents. <\/p>\n That means the region needs to add about 1,450 licensed professionals to meet the need. <\/p>\n “The impact is life or death,\u201d Dawn Belamarich said. \u201cThe suicide rates go up. We have kids who sit on a waitlist for months to be seen by a provider. And, quite frankly, we have people in our community who can\u2019t access care.\u201d <\/p>\n Belamarich is CEO of the Collaboratory, a community foundation serving Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry, and Glades counties. <\/p>\n They\u2019ve worked to compile data and share it with the entities that offer mental health services in the region. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not as simple as just hiring 1,450 providers,\u201d Belamarich said. \u201cThere\u2019s insurance parameters. There\u2019s pay scales for providers and how much we pay therapists.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s challenging for the students to become licensed professionals,\u201d Nicole Liberto explained. \u201cIt\u2019s also challenging for their supervisors to be able to provide the necessary supervision.\u201d <\/p>\n Liberto is with Lee Health, which is among the partners working to find solutions to the problem. <\/p>\n It\u2019s a complicated issue that cascades to impact the entire community. Untreated mental health problems can lead to substance abuse, which can then lead to other issues \u2013 even homelessness. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just like any other medical disease. The longer you wait to treat, the worse it gets,\u201d Liberto said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not in a good place. Florida\u2019s never been in a good place. You bring it down to Lee County, it gets even worse,\u201d Lauren Walker said. \u201cWe need everyone to be singing the same tune, which is that mental health deserves the attention and the dollars that we\u2019re not getting.\u201d <\/p>\n Walker is CEO of the nonprofit Hope Clubhouse<\/a>, a day program that serves as a community beyond the crisis for people living with mental illness. <\/p>\n They are working to expand their current building to meet the growing need and also hope to add a second location soon. <\/p>\n While the statistics are a serious concern, Walker has noticed one change for the better with mental health. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople are talking about it now. And it’s not this hushed thing that can\u2019t be discussed,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt\u2019s, \u2018How can I help you? How can I lift you up?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n It\u2019s Hope Clubhouse that has helped lift up Sheridan Chester. <\/p>\n She has been through so much \u2013 made it through so much \u2013 to get to where she is now. <\/p>\n She’s proof that the right help can make all the difference. For that, she’s grateful. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s so many things that God has given me,\u201d Chester said. “I am so grateful every morning, I thank you that you woke me up to another day. To experience something. To learn something. To share something. To be something.\u201d <\/p>\n DOWNLOAD<\/strong>\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app<\/a>\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app<\/a> to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sheridan Chester had a hard childhood. She grew up in an abusive home. At just 12 years old,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[276],"tags":[34440,34442,7944,34448,686,18,34447,135,34444,34441,19,7764,17,34454,34449,34452,34443,7839,167,34446,4225,502,34453,237,33534,2903,1431,34450,34451,737,34445,94,3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-46151","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-behavioral","9":"tag-collaboratory","10":"tag-community","11":"tag-dawn-belamarich","12":"tag-doctors","13":"tag-eire","14":"tag-gulf-coast","15":"tag-health","16":"tag-homeless","17":"tag-hope-clubhouse","18":"tag-ie","19":"tag-illness","20":"tag-ireland","21":"tag-late-datum","22":"tag-late-news","23":"tag-lauren-walker","24":"tag-lee-health","25":"tag-mental","26":"tag-mental-health","27":"tag-mental-health-professional","28":"tag-mental-illness","29":"tag-mentalhealth","30":"tag-nicole-liberto","31":"tag-people","32":"tag-provider","33":"tag-providers","34":"tag-region","35":"tag-sheridan-chester","36":"tag-southwest-florida","37":"tag-substance-abuse","38":"tag-therapists","39":"tag-treatment","40":"tag-year"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}