FORT MYERS, Fla (WINK) – A Cape Coral mother is raising concerns about the lack of specialized mental health options for children in Southwest Florida. Her family’s struggle to find adequate care for her son highlights a shortage of specialized pediatric mental health services.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jillian Zuman’s teenage son, who lives with schizophrenia, faced challenges when seeking help during a crisis.<\/p>\n
“It’s a 24-hour-a-day kind of thing, you know, we can’t be off,” said Zuman. “It’s difficult.”<\/p>\n
Zuman says her son\u2019s most recent stay at a local behavioral hospital left both of them traumatized. The incident was investigated by the Lee County Sheriff\u2019s Office. It is now in the hands of the State Attorney\u2019s Office. WINK Investigates is not naming the hospital because it has not been charged with any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not taking him back there ever again,\u201d Zuman said. \u201cHe\u2019s not stepping foot in there. I don\u2019t feel it\u2019s safe anymore.”<\/p>\n
The hospital is one of the few in Southwest Florida offering services to children with schizophrenia.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Zuman shared with WINK Investigates that finding a safe and specialized facility equipped to treat children with complex diagnoses has been a continuous struggle.<\/p>\n
“I’m now in the process of starting over and trying to find a place where he can receive the services he needs safely,” she said. “The resources are hard to find, they are difficult to secure.”<\/p>\n
She says parents of children in crisis are often forced into impossible decisions.\u00a0 Those decisions include\u00a0driving hours away for care or accepting whatever placement happens to be available, even when they fear it may not be the right fit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere needs to be more places, more options,\u201d Zuman said. \u201cThe next option that\u2019s decent, per multiple mental health professionals, is in Orlando. Why is that? You know, that shouldn\u2019t be that way. How are you reasonably supposed to have a kid attend school and get good help?”<\/p>\n
Zuman’s son also suffers from bipolar disorder and has had a period of psychosis that included suicidal tendencies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Several local mental health professionals told WINK Investigates, Zuman\u2019s experience is far from unique.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s more mental health and not enough of us that are doing the work,\u201d said Carolina Ferrer, a licensed clinical social worker who has been in the field for more than 20 years. Ferrer opened up , which offers mental health therapy to all ages.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say, in 20 years, I have seen a better job from when I started,\u201d Ferrer said. \u201cBut can we do more? I think absolutely. The growth is exponential with people relocating and coming here, and I don\u2019t think we have it all together yet in being able to serve to the best capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beth Hatch, CEO of \u00a0says the lack of pediatric mental health resources has reached a critical point.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to prioritize mental health the same as physical health,\u201d Hatch said. \u201cBecause if we don\u2019t take care of our mental health, it affects our physical health, so it\u2019s just as important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local experts stress mental health should be normalized just as physical health is.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Experts also say the demand for pediatric behavioral care has surged with population growth, yet the system has not kept up.<\/p>\n
“There aren’t many resources in this area for schizophrenia at all, there’s psychiatrists, but there’s not centers, like good, reputable centers,” said Zuman.<\/p>\n
Experts say, the gap is even wider for children with complex or severe diagnoses like schizophrenia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We had to bring our own child psychologists on our team to remove that wait time, because if a parent has to wait eight months to a year and a half, that’s not early intervention,” said Hatch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Statistics from the NAMI reveal that over 3.5 million adults in Florida have a mental health condition. NAMI further reports that more than 200,000 youths aged 12 to 17 have serious thoughts of suicide each year, and almost 8 million Floridians live in areas without enough mental health professionals.<\/p>\n
Local experts say Southwest Florida has become what it calls a \u201cmental-health desert,\u201d especially for children.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are still there because a medical desert, because the waiting lists are long,\u201d Hatch said.<\/p>\n
“There’s multiple layers to saying that there is a desert in the mental health community in Southwest Florida,” said Ferrer. “I think it’s linkage and community support, not just from the agencies, but also from the pediatrician to the medical model.”<\/p>\n
Zuman believes that the issue extends beyond her family, calling for oversight, investment, and safe facilities for severe pediatric cases in Southwest Florida.<\/p>\n
“I feel like it’s a cry and shame that there’s so few facilities in this area for schizophrenia and other disorders that the ones we have, should be valuable and they should be set up correctly in a way that makes patients comfortable coming there,” Zuman said.<\/p>\n
Mental health professionals say addressing the crisis will require increased funding, more staffing, and additional inpatient beds to keep up with Southwest Florida\u2019s rapid population growth.<\/p>\n
“The earlier we can give the right interventions and help, the better,” Hatch said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Resources:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Currently, there are four public hospitals in Southwest Florida that are able to serve children with schizophrenia in crisis. Those hospitals are:<\/p>\n
\u00a0is resource open to everyone. You can call and text the number and a trained community specialists can help you access the local resources and services. They help with just about everything, including basic needs like housing, food, transportation, and health care. They can also connect with you with mental health resources.\u00a0 It’s a free resource.<\/p>\n
\u00a0is a network of non-profits offering local resources that\u00a0tackle tough community challenges.<\/p>\n
\u00a0is the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You can call or text the number.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A full list of mental health and suicide prevention resources is available below:<\/p>\n
: Focuses on eliminating the loss of life from suicide by prevention programs, educating the public, raising funds for suicide research, and offering support to individuals who have lost someone to suicide. Hosts local community walks, events, and training sessions.: Offers understanding to anyone concerned about mental illnesses and the treatment of mental illness.: A free smartphone app that helps provide the information, tools, and resources to help a friend (or yourself) who may be struggling with thoughts of suicide.: Valerie’s House provides open-ended peer support groups and activities for children to heal after a significant loss in their life.: Support group that offers a safe place for members to share their grief and to receive and provide mutual support.: Staff are composed of loss survivors, crisis center staff, researchers, and concerned citizens.: Offers online video-based programs that teach specific skills for coping with suicidal thoughts and overwhelming emotions.: Community where teens and young adults struggling with mental health conditions can find a safe place to talk about what they\u2019re experiencing.: The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25.: Provides the latest data into actionable information and resources to help you effectively prevent suicide.: Protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation\u2019s teens and young adults, giving them the skills and support they need to thrive.: A resource for those seeking assistance, guidance, and hope in their journey toward mental wellness.: Provides substance use prevention and education programs that positively impact parents, caregivers, and students.<\/p>\n
Additional mental health resources are available \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT MYERS, Fla (WINK) – A Cape Coral mother is raising concerns about the lack of specialized mental…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[12758,22015,19752,2808,97,88680,176997,259,2598,260,13677,176998,176995,30629,9778,3280,16645,176996],"class_list":["post-357140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-bipolar-disorder","tag-childhood","tag-disorders","tag-florida","tag-health","tag-lee-county-sheriffs-office","tag-licensed-clinical-social-worker","tag-mental-health","tag-mental-illness","tag-mentalhealth","tag-orlando","tag-pediatric-mental-health-services","tag-pediatric-psychology","tag-pediatrician","tag-pediatrics","tag-schizophrenia","tag-southwest-florida","tag-state-attorneys-office"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}