Mental Health
Percent of individuals sought help for mental health
The Surgeon General's report on mental illness states most of the people with diagnosable disorders do not receive treatment. Furthermore, the stigma tied to mental illness is a barrier to treatment. Data about who sought help for mental health problems were not collected in the 2004 or 2005 BRFSS. In order to highlight the importance of seeking mental health care when it is needed, the 2002 data is included. Twenty-four percent of residents of Bexar County report that they sought help for mental health problems. This coincides with the 23 percent identified as the goal in Healthy People 2010. Residents of the North Central sector were more likely to seek help. The North Central sector reported 37 percent of residents sought help for mental health. The Northwest and Northeast sectors both reported 25 percent. The South and East sectors were close behind with 21 and 20 percent respectively. People living in the West sector were the least likely to seek help reporting the lowest percent of individuals seeking help for mental health at 17 percent. It would benefit the community to bring more public attention to the availability and importance of seeking help for mental health distress. Recent reduction in funding for mental health has limited the services that the Center for Health Care Services can offer to low income people with major depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar conditions to treating them only until they are stabilized. Once these patients are stable they must find another source for treatment. Often there is no other source of care for these low-income patients and they do not receive the care needed to maintain mental stability.
Binge drinking
The Healthy People 2010 report defines binge drinking as adults having five or more drinks within a two-hour period. The Healthy People 2010 target for binge drinking is 13 percent. Binge drinking in this report is defined as 5 drinks or more in one day. Alcohol consumption is directly associated with health problems, like liver dysfunction, depression, fetal alcohol syndrome, stroke and unintentional injury including car accidents, falls, and drowning. Alcohol abuse has social costs like family violence, child abuse, rape, and lost productivity.47 Health problems arise when people drink more than two drinks a day. The health risks of consuming three drinks per day are double those associated with two per day.
Approximately 18 percent of Bexar County residents report binge drinking. The East sector report the highest incidence of binge drinking, 27 percent. The Northwest and North Central report less at 20 and 21 percent respectively. The rates in the Northeast are 17 percent and in the West sector is 15 percent. The sector with the lowest percentage was the South with 9 percent binge drinkers. A community approach to education on the negative effects of binge drinking might be considered since it appears to be prevalent in the community.
Chronic Drinking (60+ drinks/month average)
Drinking every day may or may not be risky drinking. More than 60 alcoholic beverages in one month, or an average of two drinks per day, increase risk. In Texas, the percentage of chronic drinkers has decreased from 8.7 percent in 2002 to 5 percent in the period 2004-2005. Bexar County has remained unchanged over the same time period. Parallel with the trend for the state is the trend for Harris County. In the period 2004-2005, 4 percent of Harris County residents were chronic drinkers, which is down from 6.7 percent in 2002.
More than 7 percent of Bexar County adults exceed 60 drinks per month and can be designated as chronic drinkers. Most notable are the East and North Central sectors with almost 15 and 13 percent respectively reporting chronic drinking. The Northwest and Northeast sectors of the county both report 7 percent each. A little over 6 percent in the West and 2 percent of the residents in the South consume more than 60 drinks a month. Education on the effects of chronic and risky drinking could be helpful in addressing the alcohol consumption problems in Bexar County.
46) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General—executive summary. Rockville, MD Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center of Mental Health Services, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, 2000 Retrieved September 12, 2006 from http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/summary/html.
47) Naimi, T. S., Brewer, R. D., Mokdad, A., Denny, C., Serdula, M. K., & Marks, J. S. (2003). Binge drinking among US adults.[see comment]. JAMA, 289(1), 70-75.