MENTAL HEALTH CARE MALADIES

FRISCO - "If it were not for the financial assistance Colorado West
Mental Health has provided to enable me to work with (a counselor), I
might not be here to write this letter."

Through Colorado West Mental Health's scholarship program, Robert was
able to receive treatment and write a letter of thanks to the nonprofit.

If Robert (not his real name) had to rely on state and federal
funding, he might not have gotten help for depression. State and
federal funding helps people receive treatment, but in the last three
years, Colorado has reduced its funding of public mental health and
substance abuse by 30 percent.

Robert lost his job and needed to see a therapist to resolve what he
calls "substantial past and present issues."

He wrote a letter to Colorado West Mental Health asking for
scholarship money to pay for treatment while he worked on
straightening out his finances, and Colorado West accepted him.

"I have made progress in my life outlook," he wrote in his thank-you
letter to Colorado West. "I have a lot to learn about myself still,
and I'm very ready to work at making myself a better, more positive
person, with the tools Colorado West has provided. My financial
struggle is heavier than ever before, and I am very thankful for the
scholarship provided.

"Without this help, I may have lost everything. I have learned ...
things will never be so bad that I should just give up. I am
understanding methods of problem solving and conflict resolution. This
has kept my relationship with everyone from fading away. I need to
continue my work with Colorado West to ensure I make a full recovery."

The cost of mental health

Trying to ignore mental illness doesn't work.

When people don't receive adequate treatment for substance abuse,
depression, bipolar disorder and other mental health issues, their
symptoms worsen, often causing them to end up in emergency services
such as jail or the emergency room, said Mike McCormick, division
director of Colorado West Mental Health.

Many people don't get treatment because they can't afford
to.

"Eventually taxpayers have to pay for these people one way or the
other," McCormick said. "We could probably prevent them from going
into more expensive services if the funding was better provided."

Admission to emergency rooms for mental health and substance abuse
issues increased 83 percent in the past three years, said Don Myers of
Presbyterian-St. Luke's Hospital in Denver.

"The majority of these cases could have been treated much less
expensively in community treatment centers," Myers said.

Colorado ranks last nationwide for funding substance abuse education
and prevention. It ranks 31 out of 50 in mental health funding,
McCormick said.

"We'd rather criminalize substance abuse, which is a more expensive
avenue," McCormick said.

It costs nearly five times more to keep someone in jail at $65 a day
than at a community treatment center such as Boulder's PACE program,
which averages $14 a day.

Living in a mountain resort area that attracts a young, transient
population promotes chemical use, which adds to the number of people who
need treatment in Summit County.

Annual state funding covers six months worth of treatment Colorado
West provides. As a result, the private nonprofit gave away $2.6
million of services throughout the 10 counties it serves.

In Summit County, it served 883 clients from July 2003 to June 2004;
208 were mentally ill; 234 had mental health issues that were not
severe enough to categorize as mental illness; and 441 suffered from
substance abuse, McCormick said.

"The funding cuts don't cause us to turn away any clients, but the
number of fee-reduced clients we serve puts of further into a budget
deficit," said Sarah Pokorny, program director.

Post-traumatic stress disorder, stemming from anything from car
accidents to wars or abuse in childhood, is the most common diagnosis
Colorado West treats in Summit County after substance abuse. Bipolar
disorder, depression, anxiety and personality disorders are also
common, Pokorny said.

Patients usually need a minimum of six sessions, with weekly, then
monthly follow-ups. When they require hospitalization, the situation
becomes dire. The state hospital in Pueblo only offers 17 general
psychiatric beds, which are usually full.

Colorado West is compensating for the loss in funding by implementing
tele-medicine, which allows psychiatrists to see patients over a live
television rather than traveling to various counties. McCormick hopes
to expand the service to Summit County within a year or so.

He wants to create a crisis center where people could stay locally and
is trying to start a new facility in the County Building next to the
Community Care Clinic.

Colorado West also is working with the Community Care Clinic, social
services, the probation department and other human service agencies to
share psychiatric, treatment and medication-related services.

"We must make adjustments to the system. We're reaching a crisis
point," said Major Gary Darling, a Larimer County sheriff's officer
and member of the 18-organization Colorado Mental Health and Substance
Abuse Summit.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the funding cuts affect nearly
700,000 people who cannot afford mental health treatment, and Colorado
is one of only three states in which Medicaid doesn't pay for
substance abuse care. Plus, more employers are cutting mental health
benefits for their employees.

Locally, The Summit Foundation provides grant money, and residents
have made donations to Colorado West. Interested community members may
help not only financially but also by joining an advisory council to
help plan how to better serve patients.

For more information, call Colorado West at (970) 668-3478.