NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island’s Mental Health Services Are There For You

Asking for help is hard. And for many, it’s even harder when it comes to mental health. But the staff at NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island want the community to know that mental health services are available, with no judgment.

For those going through a mental health crisis, medications may be an option for a range of conditions, including depression, anxiety, bipolar mood disorder, and schizophrenia. For patients who opt for other forms of treatment, NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island offers cognitive behavioral therapy, a type of psychotherapy that can teach people with anxiety disorders and depression to think differently about behaviors. This therapy can also teach some patients how to react differently to anxiety-provoking situations.

NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island also offers acute inpatient psychiatric care that takes a multidisciplinary approach. Staff look thoughtfully at the full range of contributing factors, which might include medical and health-related conditions, current living arrangements, family and legal conflicts, adherence to medication and mental health treatment, and the availability of psychosocial supports.

“Every doctor should be a little bit of a psychiatrist,” said Dr. Jeffrey Goldberg, chairman of the Department of Behavioral Health at NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island. “People want to be heard, and they want to be understood, regardless of the nature of their condition.” To facilitate discussion and care as a one-stop approach, he points to the hospital’s collaborative care model for depression, in which a psychiatrist is embedded in primary care so primary care doctors can treat the mental health needs of their patients seamlessly.

With opioid overdoses on the rise, NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island is not just treating the problem, it’s trying to fix it. In early May, Dr. Mary T. Bassett, NYC’s Health Commissioner, launched the city’s HealingNYC plan at NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island. Embraced by the hospital, the program focuses on more judicious prescribing of opioids to reduce the incidence of new addiction. It also promotes greater distribution of naloxone opioid overdose–prevention kits. “These kits save lives,” said Dr. Goldberg.

As hard as it may be to get treatment for yourself, it may be even harder to help loved ones get treatment when they refuse it. NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island’s licensed mental health counselors, psychologists and social workers provide family therapy sessions to help the patient and their families improve communication, resolve conflicts, and get through stressful periods, while focusing on realistic goals and education.

If you have a family member or loved one who is having difficulty seeking treatment, NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island has two New York State–licensed Assertive Community Treatment teams who will go out into the community and meet patients where they live. Families can also seek support from NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island by phone (718–616–5327) or through New York City’s Thrive Initiative, which offers free confidential help by texting “WELL” to 65173.

Getting help is hard, but NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island can help.

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