Let’s Talk Health: Knowing where to seek mental help in Merced County

The first step in treating a mental illness is recognizing the need for help. The second is knowing where to go for that help.

If you followed this week’s three-part series about how violence affects health in a community, you may remember Claudia Gonzalez.

Gonzalez is a 29-year-old Winton resident who shared her struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder. Three years ago, she was diagnosed with PTSD, which she learned was a result of her exposure to violent crime and participation in gang activity.

When the symptoms – nightmares, hypervigilance and anxiety, among others – started to become overwhelming, she decided to seek professional help.

Her first thought, as I assume it would be for many unfamiliar with the system, was to go to the county’s Mental Health Department.

She filled out a questionnaire and met with someone from the department. She said she was told she didn’t qualify for services.

“I didn’t understand why I didn’t qualify – I had PTSD, I had a diagnosis,” she said.

Gonzalez said she was told she didn’t qualify because she did not have suicidal tendencies at the time of the assessment.

She left the mental health office on 13th Street angry and disappointed.

Gonzalez, now receiving treatment at a health center, said she realizes now that she might have gone to the wrong place for help, but to this day she doesn’t understand why she wasn’t referred elsewhere.

“That bad experience made me not want to go back, and for a long time I refused to try to talk to anybody else,” she said.

Merced County’s Mental Health Department is in charge of cases of severe mental illness. Curt Willems, assistant director of mental health services, said the population it serves is very specific: people who have severe functional impairments and are eligible for Medi-Cal. The department does not directly handle mild to moderate cases of mental illness.

Gonzalez’s case happened three years ago and Willems said he doesn’t know all the details in this particular example, but explained that the Mental Health Department will usually give people who don’t meet the department’s criteria options where they can go or call for help.

As of last year, the county contracts with Beacon Health Strategies, a behavioral health organization that can offer services in mild to moderate cases.

Most local clinics also offer integrated mental health services, meaning that as long as you’re a medical patient, you can also access therapists and counseling services on site.

Gonzalez, for example, found the help she was looking for at one of these clinics: Castle Family Health Centers in Atwater.

“I was able to meet with someone there and they didn’t have any criteria for me,” Gonzalez said. “That’s how I started my healing process.”

When I met with mental health officials in preparation for the series, I was given a bundle of pamphlets for a number of programs and services available in the area. Some I was familiar with, but others I had never heard of and chances are neither has most of the public.

Here are a few free services you may want to keep in mind or look up when searching for mental and behavioral health resources around town:

National Alliance of Mental Illness

NAMI Merced County offers a variety of courses on mental illnesses throughout the year. A family-to-family 12-week class for people who care for someone with a mental illness just started up this week. According to NAMI officials, people can learn about the development of mental illnesses, medications and many other aspects that will help them get through a traumatic situation. For more information on local classes, call 209-381-6844 or email namimerced@aol.com.

Mujeres a Mujeres

Livingston Community Health recently launched a support group called Mujeres a Mujeres, or Women to Women. Officials said this is a peer support group for women dealing with mild cases of depression, anxiety or other mental and emotional issues as a result of violence or abuse. The group meets weekly in Livingston. For more information, call 209-394-1347.

PEARLS

Program to Encourage Active and Rewarding Lives for Seniors is a program from the county’s Human Services Agency, in which mental health care professionals work with senior citizens who show signs of depression. The goal, officials said, is to improve seniors’ quality of life. For more information, call 209-385-7550.

Mountain Valley 211 Program

Slated to launch in October, this new referral and information system aims to connect people to a variety of resources, including mental health services. By dialing 211, callers will be able to access information specialists who can refer them to local programs.

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Let’s Talk Health: Knowing where to seek mental help in Merced County."