Mental health — State tackling suicide, other mental health issues
“If mental health is an important piece of who we are or who we want to be as communities and as a state, we need to make sure that our elected officials understand the importance of that from our perspective and to continue to drive the momentum for mental health efforts in Wyoming,” Dr. Aimee Foster said.
Foster is a licensed clinical psychologist who serves as the chief program officer for Volunteers of America Northern Rockies, which supports the belief that attention to mental health and access to mental health services is a key component for a healthy present and future lifestyle in our communities.
Foster oversees all operations for the VOA program, including behavioral health in Wyoming, as well as veterans’ services in Wyoming and Montana and in parts of western South Dakota. She believes that it’s difficult to find, recruit and retain quality mental health professionals to serve in rural communities such as Newcastle and Weston County.
“In Wyoming, as a whole, there has been a drive and a push for increased mental health services and increased mental health workforce,” she said. “The challenge is that we still don’t have the workforce that we need. The problem still exists. I’d like to say that the need is outstripping the resources, quite quickly,”
Combined with a culture that lionizes independence, this shortage is taking a toll on residents.
“We have a long-standing history in Wyoming of having this kind of ‘pick yourself up by your bootstraps mentality,’ the cowboy culture. We pride ourselves on that and there is lots to be proud of. However, there are deficits to that way of thinking, and it is reflected in our suicide rates,” Foster said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Wyoming toggles between first and third place in highest suicide rates per capita in the nation. Wyoming has enlisted the services of Dr. Kent Corso, the current psychologist-suicidologist working with the state of Wyoming to evaluate the state’s suicide rates, Foster said, adding that the state also plans to “create a community-based, culturally competent method for helping decrease suicide in our state. By understanding the Wyoming people, not by bringing a ‘one size fits all’ strategy, and that’s huge.”
She noted that forward-thinking efforts are getting the mental health ball rolling. And, she said, the state is committed to resolving historic behavioral health issues, such as suicide.
“Focused efforts towards workforce is a requirement for the behavioral health profession for the reduction of suicide and suicide risk, increase access to care,” Foster added. “We have begun seeing some of the impacts of that and are very grateful.”
Foster noted, however, that “the entire behavioral health care system in Wyoming needs more people and funds.”
“Just in terms of health care coverage,” she said, “Wyoming has the highest premiums in the nation. That makes health care unaffordable for a lot of the people that we serve and for those that don’t have access to private insurance or who are on a state plan.”
According to Foster, since 2020, Wyoming has seen a drastic increase in acuity in mental health illness. There has been a drastic increase in co-occurring disorders (individuals who struggle with both substance abuse and mental disorders at the same time). A decrease in behavioral health providers has also occurred. Health care workers across the board have declined over the past five years, she said, but the loss has primarily been in behavioral health.
Foster said that Wyoming needs more financial resources to help smaller communities recruit and retain quality providers. She said there are programs that allow employees to work in rural communities to receive payments in forms of loans and tuition reimbursements. The goal is to incentivise people to want to work in rural areas that are seeking to strengthen their mental health services. VOA has also become creative in providing mental health services by adopting Telehealth as a means. “Leveraging technology to allow people who would otherwise not be able to connect with providers has been huge,” she said. “However, we are still aware there are challenges, as some people prefer in-person services.”
That is one of the reasons that addressing Wyoming’s ongoing mental health needs will likely require more than technological improvements, but Foster thinks the investment is worth it.
“Telehealth and additional financial resources are the biggest factors to consider in increasing the resources in our rural populations,” she said. “What we’re looking at is not what it used to be, it’s not long-term, individual therapy for 10 years. We’re looking at enhancing overall well-being – which trickles out through parents, through employers and through various social structures.”