NPR (4/9, Noguchi) reports many psychiatrists are using teletherapy to reach patients affected by the coronavirus pandemic. For example, Dr. Philip Muskin in New York City says he is reaching patients using the phone and many of them feel trapped having lost their livelihood or sense of safety to the pandemic. The pandemic has led “to a spike in anxiety, depression and addiction – not just among Muskin’s patients, but across the U.S.” and in response, psychiatrists are using the phone and newer technologies to reach out to patients and conduct teletherapy.
HealthDay (4/9, Gordon) reports that while the coronavirus pandemic has created additional barriers to receiving psychiatric treatment, some insurers are increasingly covering telehealth behavioral services and some related regulations have been relaxed. Dr. Shabana Khan, a member of the APA’s committee on telepsychiatry, says that telemedicine “can literally save lives,” and some psychiatrists “are surprised at how much patients are embracing the new technology.” However, the APA is also “concerned that not everyone who wants services can get them,” including those without “access to a computer or fast internet service,” so the APA has asked CMS “to ease requirements and allow telephone appointments.”
Coronavirus Pandemic Reportedly Poses Challenges For People Recovering From Addiction,.USA Today (4/9, Rodriguez) reports the coronavirus pandemic poses challenges for people recovering from addiction. For example, a 41-year-old man from Milwaukee who “has been clean from heroin for six months and completely sober for three months,” said, “It’s difficult to get yourself out of this mindset of thinking the world is going to hell, and I might as well use to make myself feel good.” USA Today describes how the pandemic and the restrictions aimed at stopping it can make it difficult for people recovering from addiction to start or continue treatment, including group therapy.
Expert Discusses Impact Of Coronavirus Pandemic On People With Severe Mental Illnesses And How To Address It. Medscape (4/9, Anderson, Subscription Publication) reports Benjamin Druss, MD, MPH, of Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, warns in a viewpoint article published in JAMA Pscyhiatry that the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on patients with severe mental illnesses (SMI) needs to be addressed. Dr. Druss wrote that “disasters disproportionately affect poor and vulnerable populations, and patients with serious mental illness may be among the hardest hit,” but Dr. Druss also “says there are strategies that can help minimize the risk of exposure and transmission of the virus in” patients with SMI.
Related Links:
— “Psychiatrists Lean Hard On Teletherapy To Reach Isolated Patients In Emotional Pain, “Yuki Noguchi, NPR, April 9, 2020