Mental Health Matters: Breaking Barriers 

A Rutgers Health expert shares insights on mental health challenges and how New Jersey Medical School is changing how to treat individuals and support communities

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one in four adults in the United States lives with a mental health condition.

This statistic highlights the increasing need for mental health awareness and support, and each year since 1949, Mental Health Awareness Month is observed in May in the U.S. This year’s theme, “Turn Awareness into Action,” emphasizes the importance of reducing stigma, ensuring access to care, educating the public and empowering individuals to prioritize their mental wellbeing. In recent years, public conversations around mental health have become more open, especially in the face of rising rates of anxiety and depression – each heightened by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

To better understand the landscape and explore how Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) is helping to lead the change, Petros Levounis, professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and director of the Northern New Jersey Medications for Addiction Treatment Center of Excellence, discusses some mental health challenges people face, key indicators that signal when it’s time to seek help and how NJMS is extending its efforts beyond the campus to provide accessible care within the community.

Why is Mental Health Awareness Month important, and what impact does it have on reducing stigma?

Post-pandemic, the stigma of mental illness has seen an astonishing drop. Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals are now routinely called to educate both legislators and the public on matters of mental and physical wellbeing, work-life balance and social determinants of health. Famous athletes and performers readily credit their therapists for both success and wellness.

We are at a unique moment when people’s awareness of and interest in what psychiatry can offer seems to be at its highest. Mental Health Awareness Month capitalizes on this wave of understanding and appreciation, further reducing the stigma of mental illness.

Talk to someone – a primary care physician, a brother or sister, a friend, someone from your church, synagogue, or mosque, a co-worker, a counselor or a psychiatrist like one of our dedicated faculty doctors – about your struggles. And remember 988, the suicide and crisis lifeline.

Petros Levounis

Professor & Chair, Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

What are some of the most common mental health challenges that people face today?

Loneliness is emerging as a key concern for more people than ever before. It’s easy to blame technology in general, and social media more specifically, for this alarming increase, but the research is far from conclusive about such a connection.

However, if you are neglecting face-to-face relationships or notice that Candy Crush Saga distracts you from work or school, it may be time to reconsider your relationship with social media and Internet gaming. Also, the current global geopolitical landscape has introduced an unprecedented level of communal anxiety and distress, sometimes in need of professional advice.

How can individuals recognize when they need professional help and what are some signs that should not be ignored?

The most straightforward red flags relate to “functional impairment,” such as problems at work or declining school performance.

Sleeping too much or too little, unintentional weight gain or weight loss, and constantly feeling anxious, envious, irritable, angry or depressed may also be signs of mental health problems.

Drinking too much alcohol, or using substances, such as cocaine, cannabis, fentanyl or tobacco, always raise concerns for both individuals and families that should not be ignored.

What initiatives or programs is Rutgers NJMS involved in to support mental health in the community?

Our incredible faculty and staff offer state-of-the-art inpatient, outpatient and emergency psychiatric services from birth to old age.

The Rutgers NJMS low-barrier addiction treatment clinic is legendary in Northern New Jersey communities. Our Center of Excellence reaches beyond our campus facilities to help people in need of addiction and other mental health services. Our van meets “people where people are at” from Newark Penn Station to faith-based buildings, and we are now exploring opportunities to further expand our outreach work to beauty salons and barbershops, which are often a primary source of mental health counseling for our patients.

What trends or emerging treatments in psychiatry are you most excited about, and how might they change the future of mental health care?

From the work of Danielle Dick, professor and director of the Rutgers Addiction Research Center, on genomics and precision psychiatry to our department’s cutting-edge work on the technological addictions and nature therapy, psychiatry is not only greatly appreciated in the post-pandemic world but also exploding with innovation and promise of better mental health for all.

For example, the more we study psychedelics, the more encouraged we become about future medications with novel mechanisms of action for the treatment of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol use disorder and other psychiatric conditions. Note the word “future” – we are not there yet, and I do not recommend them for current clinical practice.

On the other hand, the more data we gather about cannabis, the more disappointed we become about any potential health benefits and the more concerned we are about the significant detrimental effects of cannabis on people’s mental health.

What advice would you give to someone struggling with their mental health?

Take the first step. Talk to someone – a primary care physician, a brother or sister, a friend, someone from your church, synagogue, or mosque, a co-worker, a counselor or a psychiatrist like one of our dedicated faculty doctors – about your struggles. And remember 988, the suicide and crisis lifeline.