Raise Your Mental Health Awareness

Raise Your Mental Health Awareness

Mental Health Awareness Month each May is a good reminder to learn more about the range of mental illnesses that people experience, and how we can promote and enable well-being for all individuals. This includes becoming familiar with more commonly discussed mental illnesses like anxiety and depression, as well as other mental health conditions such as eating disorders, and postpartum depression. It is also important to be sensitive to the words you use when you talk about and with people who are living with a mental illness. As Dr. Anton C. Bizzell, CEO of the Bizzell Group, writes in this Psychology Today article, “We must also consider how we unwittingly use terminology that adds pain to those already working hard to overcome the societal stigma of living with a mental illness.”

With the uptick in mental illnesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, now more than ever, we need to increase awareness, encourage professional diagnosis and treatment, and bring dignity and sensitivity to our discussions about mental illnesses.

READ MORE: Raise Your Mental Health Awareness

How We Can Work Together to Fight Alcoholism

How We Can Work Together to Fight Alcoholism

April is Alcohol Awareness Month. In “How We Can Work Together to Fight Alcoholism,” published online in Psychology Today, Dr. Anton C. Bizzell urges all Americans to fight the deadly epidemic of alcohol use and abuse among both adults and adolescents. He notes that one in 12 adults abuse or are dependent on alcohol and that 885,000 young people ages 12-17 have alcohol use disorder. Alcohol sales soared during the pandemic, Dr. Bizzell points out, and online happy hours may have played a role. He suggests companies host a virtual dessert party or scavenger hunt instead. Parents can set a good example for their children and can avail themselves of resources at www.StopAlcoholAbuse.gov. The long-term health risks of heavy drinking include brain and liver damage, heart disease, malnutrition, and mental health disorders, Dr. Bizzell notes.

Read more: Psychology Today

Telebehavioral Health: Technology-Enabled Behavioral Health

Telebehavioral Health: Technology-Enabled Behavioral Health

March 7, 2021 (Lanham, MD) Across the country and around the world, people’s lives are significantly upended by COVID-19. Research indicates that during quarantine, people can experience poorer mental health, including post-traumatic stress, avoidance behaviors, anger, fear of infection, and frustration and boredom (Brooks et al., 2020). Telebehavioral health became a necessity to provide behavioral health treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, adhere with stay-at-home orders, and maintain social distancing (Wright et al., 2020). Published by the Behavioral Health Advancement Resource Center (BHARC), March 2021 Behavioral Health Spotlight offers insights and commentary on telebehavioral health.

Telebehavioral health is an approach to providing behavioral health clinical services, counseling, and health education and information using telecommunication and video communication technologies. Today, telebehavioral health is a standard practice and a rapidly growing approach to deliver clinical services to patients (Paterson et al., 2020). It has been well-received by both patients and providers. “With increasing adoption of telebehavioral health, we can reach the people who need help the most during the pandemic and beyond,” said Anton C. Bizzell, MD, BHARC advisor and CEO of The Bizzell Group (Bizzell). BHARC is funded by Bizzell.

The BHARC Behavioral Health Spotlight is a thought leadership series highlighting various behavioral health topics that impact communities across the United States and abroad. “Telebehavioral Health: Technology-Enabled Behavioral Health” was written by Mim Landry, a BHARC Advisory Council Substance Use and Mental Health Expert. The article describes the benefits of and current issues in telebehavioral health and includes a review and commentary of recent literature on this important topic.

About BHARC

The Behavioral Health Advancement Resource Center (BHARC) is an authoritative source for behavioral health information, insights, technical assistance, training, and innovative tools. BHARC is a mechanism to share evidence-based behavioral health interventions and best practices. The BHARC Advisory Council consists of experts in substance use, mental health, clinical trials, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare standards and quality.

About Bizzell

Bizzell US (Bizzell) is a strategy, consulting, and technology firm that designs innovative solutions to help build healthy, secure, and sustainable communities in our nation and around the world. Bizzell leverages the combined experience of our diverse subject matter experts to develop data-driven, research-informed answers to the world’s most complex challenges—ensuring our clients achieve their vision and goals. For more information, visit: Bizzell US.

State of Mental Health, Part 2: Where we’re headed in 2021

In a recent Psychology Today article, Dr. Anton C. Bizzell shares how COVID-19 affected everyone’s mental health in 2020 and what the predictions and preparations are for 2021. Dr. Bizzell believes that mental health will gain a foothold in the overall healthcare conversation and will be recognized as a global health problem. We must couple hope with action to tackle the mental health effects of the pandemic, Dr. Bizzell writes. With so many around the world touched by COVID, the topic of mental health will finally begin to lose its stigma, he believes.

READ MORE: Psychology Today