“That will consist of various community leaders that will come together on a regular basis to identify and prioritize issues in our community related to mental health and addiction,” Shell said.
RBHH also houses the only inpatient eating disorder clinic in the area, which, Anderson said, unfortunately only treats adult patients at the moment, but they’re able to treat children with co-occurrence of eating disorders and other symptoms through their pediatric ward. Conversely, the hospital is also preparing to open a senior unit. “For some people, it’s beneficial to be with Of course, the specific needs of a patient can be your own age group,” Anderson said. “You complex and range greatly, but Reno Behavioral have your own life experiences. You’re kind of Healthcare Hospital is equipped to handle in that same stage with each other. They deal extended treatments for which traditional hospia lot with grief and loss, you know, beginning tals don’t have the space or qualified staff. stages of dementia, anxiety, depression, all of “Our job is really to take care of people those things.” who are in an acute crisis,” Treatment can include said Dr. Novia Anderson, traditional medication and director of clinical services therapy with doctors “The economy has been talk at RBHH. “So, somebody and licensed clinicians, but may be experiencing suicidal patients also have access getting better, the ideations or have had an to recreation, including a attempt. They may be expepopulation’s growing, gym and basketball court, riencing a long-term chronic yoga and other physical depression, anxiety, chemical but yet the mental exercises, as well as art, dependency—substance music and dance therapy. health and addiction abuse issues. Our job is to The point, Anderson said, is kind of stabilize and begin to provide a structured enviissues continue to rise.” their process toward their ronment to give patients the recovery.” Steve Shell, CEO of Reno best chances for recovery Anderson estimates about Behavioral Healthcare Hospital outside of the hospital. 80 percent of RBHH patients Anderson has lived in are referred from other Nevada since 1993, workmedical hospitals or private ing at the Desert Parkway Healthcare Hospital in therapists, but anyone struggling with acute Las Vegas before returning to Reno when RBHH symptoms, mood or thought disorders can call for opened. She said she’s personally witnessed a free consultation at any time of the day or night. how homelessness, addiction and mental illness “It feels like a conversation, you know. It’s are linked and have been exacerbated by the more of a, ‘Tell me what’s going on?’ ‘Tell me housing crisis and economic downturns in the how long has that been going on for you?’ ‘What city. Facilities like RBHH, she said, give patients have you tried?’” Anderson said. “You’re lookthe best chance of breaking the cycles that might ing for those things that, it’s become an issue if have put them there in the first place. it’s truly impacting your work, your relationships “If you’re hungry and you don’t feel safe and and your ability to laugh.” you don’t have a place to go, kind of, mental Patients might be referred to an outside health is going to get pushed down to the bottom, community program if their symptoms don’t and so that just makes this vicious cycle for all warrant admittance to one of the in-house treatof us,” Anderson said. “Growth is great, but with ment programs, wherein they’re separated by out of control growth, we lose the ability to put in age and condition for their own safety and for that safety structure that I think we’re missing.” more effective care protocols. RHBB also has the In the end, however, Anderson believes only Partial Hospitalization Program in Northern that individuals with mental illness continue Nevada, wherein patients can receive care, attend to be unfairly stigmatized in city politics and meetings and socialize in a controlled space for the media, often being cast as violent, untrustpart of the day, before being released on their worthy or incapable of change. While RBHH own recognizance in the evenings. can treat the symptoms, she hopes they can “We have four units that are open right now,” also change the public’s perception of what it Anderson said. “We have a unit [for] mood disormeans to seek help. ders—so, it’s depression, it’s anxiety, those kinds “I think people are afraid to say ‘I have a of things. And then we have a thought disorder mental illness,’” Anderson said. “But we should unit, which is where we would have people with get to the point where I can say that, and I can maybe their first psychotic break or bipolar disorsay that just like ‘I have diabetes’ or ‘I have high der with psychotic features. Then we have the blood pressure,’ ‘I have depression.’ I’m hoping adolescent and pediatric unit. We go 5 to 12 for someday we get to that place where it’s not seen our pediatrics and then 13 to 17 for adolescents. as this big scary thing that we keep in the closet And then we have our substance abuse unit that somewhere.” Ω is dealing with co-occurrence. So that means they could have substance abuse with depression or anxiety or any other diagnosis.”
Breaking the cycle
10.17.19
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RN&R
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