Local 12 highlights Lindner Center of HOPE campaign

The United States is in the midst of a mental health crisis that started even before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Paul Crosby, MD.

Crosby, associate professor and vice chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience in the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and president and CEO of the Lindner Center of HOPE in Mason, said the center has seen a 30% increase in requests for services in the past year that he expects to continue for years to come.

To help close the gap in access to care, the Lindner Center of HOPE has announced a new capital campaign, looking to fundraise $30 million to begin an expansion of the facility and to hire more providers. Crosby recently joined the Local 12 program What's Happening in Health to discuss the campaign and mental health crisis.

Crosby said while the demand for mental health services has increased, there remains a stigma and negative attitudes around mental illness, which is the No. 1 reason why people do not seek care they need.

"Either they don’t acknowledge that they need care or they’re afraid to seek care," he told Local 12. "So the biggest way to fight stigma is to talk about what’s going on just like you talk about a bad back or diabetes or heart disease or something like that."

When you suspect a mental health issue in a friend or family member, Crosby encouraged people to talk openly with them and encourage them to seek help.

"If it can be spoken, it can be managed. That’s something that we say all the time in mental health," he said. "It’s extremely important to bring the thoughts and feelings that we’re having out and to put words to them. Tha’ts how we manage them, that’s how we heal from them."

For more information on the Lindner Center of HOPE, call 513-536-4673.

Watch the What's Happening in Health segment. (Note: Segment begins around 4:52 mark.)

Featured photo at top courtesy of Unsplash.