Andy Steiner is a Twin Cities-based writer and editor. Before becoming a full-time freelancer, she worked as senior editor at Utne Reader and editor of the Minnesota Women’s Press.
A crisis line for adults in mental health distress, Hennepin County’s Community Outreach for Psychiatric Emergencies has been forced to shift to phone-only services due to coronavirus, assessing callers’ mental states in new and different ways.
While the majority of members had cellphones, many didn’t realize that their phones had cameras. And others didn’t have a computer or a laptop at home. This meant that many needed a crash course in online communication.
At Washburn, COVID-19 meant changing the way they’d been doing things for over a century in a matter of days.
North Memorial Health Hospital was short on medical-grade masks and were looking for volunteers to construct and donate as many 2,500, using a special pattern and fabric. The Masked Crusaders stepped up.
While the Training Institute’s classes are usually designed to provide continuing education credits for mental health professionals, this course was created with laypeople in mind.
Given fears about possible exposure to COVID-19, expectant mothers around Minnesota are seeking ways to cope with this new anxiety, including limiting prenatal visits; selecting smaller hospitals, or signing up to deliver at independent, midwife-run birth centers.
Because loss upends the lives of those left behind, Carolyn Kinzel explained it is her organization’s goal to help grieving families build connections that can make navigating their new reality a little easier.
For now, some patients have been moved or discharged as COVID-19 patients are served. But M Health Fairview says no permanent changes have been made.
Social isolation — even when done for the good of the larger community — can be particularly difficult for LGBTQ+ people in recovery.
In mid-March, as the number COVID-19 cases in the state began to climb, SRHN leadership announced that staff would work from home and naloxone trainings would be shifted from in-person to virtual.
Statewide restrictions placed on the number of people who can gather together have meant that Minnesota’s many recovery programs have had to rethink the way they work.
Psychiatrist and educator Kaz Nelson discusses four common mental health reactions during the coronavirus crisis: psychological stress, grief, isolation/loneliness and panic.
Last year, a conversion therapy ban passed the Minnesota House; Sen. Scott Dibble’s companion bill has been reintroduced in the hopes of receiving a hearing and a full vote this session.
Growing their numbers just might be the answer to the state’s serious shortage of mental health workers.
“Making a connection and making a friend, that’s something that grieving people need,” said camp founder Paul Thomas “PT” Hohag. “They need to feel like they have advocates and supporters.”
As host of the hit podcast “The Hilarious World of Depression,” humorist John Moe spends a lot of time talking to funny people about their mental health. Now he’s written about his own.
The Wayside program will be the first and only outpatient addiction-treatment program in Minnesota that focuses exclusively on nurses.
The program was introduced by Broek in 2011 as a way to help students understand the importance of sleep, and to provide tips for getting optimal shut-eye in an exciting new environment.
“It’s been powerful to see the response to this idea of making non-drinkers feel like they are our first thought, rather than an afterthought,” said owner Eric Dayton.
When Grimm died on Jan. 5, he left behind a legacy of accomplishment in addiction treatment, but those who worked with him say he will be best remembered for his focus on individuals, his generous spirit and his commitment to improving the lives of people worldwide struggling with the disease of addiction.
