The coronavirus pandemic is causing a lot of stress and the fear and anxiety can be overwhelming. When in-person mental health clinics closed, the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Telehealth program helped people transition to virtual treatment. Dr. Tearsanee Davis supervises mental health services.
“We started telling patients you don’t have to go without care. We have this available, you know, for you and started showing them how they could still receive care via telehealth,” said Davis
Davis says many Mississippians are experiencing depression, anxiety and grief from the loss of a loved one or a job. Certified Telehealth Therapist Amber Hudson is with Hinds Behavioral Health Services. She works with young people ages 15 to 30, some with serious mental health disorders. Hudson says seeing her patients virtually has helped keep them on the medicines they need.
“Their overall emotional and mental health and even and to some level their physical health would have definitely gone down. There would have been a whole lot of my clients in inpatient services. They would have been at UMMC on their psych ward. There probably would’ve been a few more crimes or you know domestic disturbances,” said Hudson.
Hudson says despite the usefulness of telehealth it’s not for everyone. She adds patients have to be evaluated carefully before using the service.
