Dr. Christine Cauffield. CEO of LSF Health Systems<\/p>\n
As CEO of one of Florida\u2019s seven managing entities providing behavioral healthcare to more than 320,000 uninsured or under-insured Floridians, I\u2019m thrilled to see the priority that House Speaker-designate Sam Garrison has committed to give mental health as a \u201cfirst-tier issue\u201d during his speakership over the next two years.<\/p>\n
\u00a0At a recent\u00a0Florida Chamber Leadership Conference<\/a>, Garrison repeatedly referred to behavioral health as much more than just a healthcare issue, but rather as a public safety, workforce and infrastructure problem.<\/p>\n \u00a0Garrison\u2019s comments sync with\u00a0new research showing how much pressure Florida families are under right now. Today’s families are navigating much more than most of us realize, according to a report from\u00a0Common Sense Media<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0What may look like a collection of separate struggles is really one interconnected story about a generation under pressure, the report shows.\u00a0The country\u2019s mental health crisis is often tied to socioeconomic factors impacting our economic security such as housing costs, low wages and medical expenses.<\/p>\n \u00a0We cannot fully address the mental health crisis without talking about economic pressures. Access to safe housing, adequate healthcare, stable income and quality childcare are not just financial issues; they are our mental health infrastructure. We know from decades of research that poverty is one of the strongest predictors of mental illness.<\/p>\n We need to recognize that living wages, affordable housing and accessible healthcare can all be mental health interventions. Clinicians can do important work in the therapy room, but we can’t therapize our way out of systemic problems.<\/p>\n \u00a0More than half of respondents in the\u00a0Common Sense Media\u00a0survey said they feel they’re just one crisis away from financial disaster. Chronic financial stress is one of the most under-acknowledged mental health crises we have. It’s not just feeling worried; it physically changes how the brain functions. When you’re in a constant state of financial scarcity, your nervous system stays in survival mode. You can’t think long-term, you can’t regulate your emotions as well and small problems feel catastrophic.\u00a0<\/p>\n