Mental-Health Lines Buzz in U.S. Recession Depression

[inanna]

Source: Bloomberg

Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- A tidal wave of anxiety is washing over America, from Wall Street's concrete canyons to the lettuce fields of California, propelled by the mortgage industry collapse, high gas prices, tight credit and rising unemployment.

Operators of telephone help lines, insurers, hospital administrators and therapists, interviewed over the last month, say the financial services crisis, which has caused an explosion of foreclosures, is sending everyday people to mental-health services at levels not seen since the 9/11 terror attacks.

``It's shattering people's dreams of having a piece of the pie,'' said Victoria Tabios, 52, who works at a mental-health agency in Stockton, California, a city at the epicenter of the worst U.S. housing crisis since the Great Depression. ``There's a sense of hopelessness, irritability and anger.''

In New York, calls to the Hopeline network for people with depression or suicidal thoughts leaped 75 percent to 10,368 in the 11 months ending in July 2008. Chicago-based ComPsych Corp., the world's largest provider of employee assistance programs, logged 21 percent more calls seeking help for stress from financial pressures in July than they received a year earlier, and hospital admissions for psychiatric services are up 10 percent this year over last in claims submitted to UnitedHealth Group Inc., the largest U.S. health insurer.


Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aEidcDQzs.U4&refer=us

[Joanne98]

1. The Bush economy

[slackmaster]

2. My mom had an interesting conversation with a stock broker about this

The broker said she has been spending about 95% of her time on the phone doing what amounts to emotional counseling sessions, and trying to talk people out of taking rash actions like dumping all of their stocks and putting the money into gold.

[billyoc]

3. I'd like to see the statistics on how many people use their brokers as therapists.

[Jefferson23]

4. I've been depressed since Gore had the election stolen in 2000, can I get bailed out too?

So are all these depressed Americans going to vote McCain I wonder.

[Sequoia]

7. Me too.

I even sent him a telegram asking him not to give up. The only time I've ever done that. What? No email, you ask? Naw, didn't have it at home and still don't. I have no new gadgets like Ipod, Iphones, cell phone, home internet...I'm so in the covered wagon days now.

[tridim]

9. No shit, where was all this compassion for those of us who have been anxious/depressed for 8 years?

[bdamomma]

5. and will people rise above their own prejudices and racism

to vote for Obama instead of voting against their own best interests to conquer their senses of hopelessness, irritability and anger.

sad very sad, what has happened to the country.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

6. Will they?

A lot won't. Those emotions are "reptile brain" survival responses, not reasoned functions, so a lot of them will retreat to the darkest sections of their brains, to the basest thoughts that still comfort them and make them feel safe.

Already, the right has started blaming this mess on the Dem controlled congress, Clinton and liberalism. Really. Expect more to go there, in spite of every bit of evidence to the contrary.

[The2ndWheel]

8. Yeah, physical reality catching up is going to suck

"It's shattering people's dreams of having a piece of the pie,"

That's the problem of everyone having to eat the same pie. But, for efficient production purposes, everyone has to.

[beac]

10. Well whadya know? Phil Gramm WAS right.

It IS a 'mental' recession! Our mental health is receding right along with our fiscal health. Guess we shouldn't 'whine' about that either, huh Phil?

[Th1onein]

11. JUST A BUNCH OF WHINERS!

Yep.

[foxfeet]

12. Goddess knows they're not getting any extra funding to deal with the increased caseload. n/t