Provide names of other journalists involved.
Jim Young, Photographer van Tsui, Graphic Artist
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
Dec. 24, 2011
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
A casual conversation with a psychiatrist struggling with an emergency department crowded with mental health patients persuaded reporters Julie Steenhuysen and Jilian Mincer to take a closer at how the economy is affecting mental health . They discovered that the financial crisis has boosted demand for mental health services by 400,000 patients in the past three years, just as cash-strapped states have slashed $3.4 billion in mental health services. Some doctors have seen the number of psychiatric patients visiting emergency departments increase by 20 percent in the past three years. Many of these patients are people with chronic mental illness who have lost community-based services and wind up in the ER because they have no place else to go. But they are being joined by a new group of people with no history of mental illness who find themselves suddenly without a job or home and in the midst of a psychiatric emergency. Emergency doctors across the country say this trend is taxing their ERs and causing long treatment delays, as psych patients wait days and as long as a week before they get appropriate treatment. And as psych patients stack up in ER departments, they take up beds that could be used by trauma patients, and costing the health care system billions of dollars. The story sparked nearly 6,000 comments on Yahoo alone. Many people wrote of their frustration with the government. Others wrote about loved ones in trouble. A woman from South Bend, Indiana, wrote about her brother, who is psychotic and needs medication to hold down a job and lead a normal life, “… but with the cuts, he can’t seem to get what he needs– not even a place to sleep sometimes. Things need to change so these people can be part of their families again,” she wrote.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
This story relied on numerous published studies and economic data.
Explain types of human sources used.
Human sources included extensive interviews with patients, doctors and policymakers who are dealing with this crisis.
Results:
In addition to prominent play on the Reuters.com website, the article appeared in dozens of newspapers and The Atlantic. It received nearly 6,000 comments on Yahoo, as well as 568 tweets and 347 Facebook recommendations. A letter from Dr. Sullivan, who is quoted in the story, said the story clearly touched a nerve. We’re looking at a story on potential solutions next.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
This story has not been corrected nor has its content been challenged.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
It’s crucial to go beyond the numbers to track down professionals and patients. When we reached out to an association of emergency department physicians, we got a stampede of responses from doctors saying this problem is growing worse in their communities. Their sense of desperation and concern for their patients made it clear we were on to something.