Alliance Note: The assistant commissioner for the NYC bureau of mental health presented data on New York City mental health metrics which suggest the city is beginning to see improvements in the mental health crisis amplified by the pandemic. The city gave data which shows rates of anxiety and depression as well as psychiatric hospitalizations have all decreased since 2021.
While this data is encouraging, it does not mean we have exited the crisis. Rates of suicide have not been reduced and City officials believe the number of suicide deaths increased in 2022, although the data is not yet publicly available. Overdose rates in the city are still at a record high and our youth are struggling more than ever. Black people are still being hospitalized at much higher rates than other racial groups.
What is clear from the data is even more community-based services are needed to support people in the communities of their choice and help prevent unnecessary hospitalization. We must continue to invest in services such as supportive housing, voluntary engagement models such as INSET, and places for people to get recovery services, such as Clubhouse or recovery centers. See below for more details on the new data presented at the most recent Department of Health and Mental Hygiene board meeting.
Pandemic may not have a ‘profound and lasting effect’ on city’s mental health crisis, officials say
By Amanda D’Ambrosio | Crain’s Health Pulse | December 18, 2023
There are well-documented impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health. But New York City health officials say that the bulk of mental health data may not point to lingering, detrimental effects of the pandemic.
Rates of anxiety and depression, emergency department visits with a mention of mental health and adult psychiatric hospitalizations have all fallen since the Covid crisis, with some rates declining even before that, according to data presented at a Department of Health and Mental Hygiene board meeting last week.
“I have a lot of caution saying this out loud,” Jamie Neckles, assistant commissioner for the bureau of mental health, said in the presentation. “But I think concerns around the pandemic having a profound and lasting effect on mental health [do] not really seem apparent in our measures.”
In April 2023, 9% of New York City residents said they had probable depression — down from 17% in January of 2021. Fourteen percent of city residents said they had likely anxiety in April of this year, compared to 19% in January 2021.
Metrics also point to potential declines in serious mental illnesses. Emergency department visits where mental health was mentioned have trended down since the pandemic, and remain lower than pre-pandemic levels. ED visits peaked at nearly 216,000 in 2019, falling to 189,000 in 2022.
Adult psychiatric hospitalizations have also declined. Citywide hospitalizations peaked in 2018 at 47,000 and steadily declined to 34,000 in 2021, the most recent year that data is available.
Neckles presented the data, which comes from a variety of city sources, at DOHMH’s community services board meeting last week. The community services board serves as an advisor to the health department on issues related to mental health and substance use issues.
Board members called for more information around psychiatric hospitalizations, including a breakdown of rates by race and ethnicity as well as reason for admission. Board member Dr. Roberto Lewis-Fernández, director of the New York State Center of Excellence for Cultural Competence at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, raised questions about how hospitalizations relate to suicides — which have remained flat in recent years.
“The fact of deaths by suicide being fairly flat, while hospitalizations are dropping dramatically, is an interesting comparison,” Lewis-Fernández said, noting that less need for hospitalization could indicate that fewer people were struggling — and ultimately lead to fewer deaths.
Approximately 560 New York City residents died by suicide in 2021— a number that did not spike during the pandemic. Although 2022 data is not yet published, Neckles said the number of suicide deaths in the city is expected to increase.
It’s unclear what could be driving the declines in adult psychiatric hospitalizations. Neckles noted that there were racial disparities in hospitalization rates, with Black people facing higher rates of admission. But declines were observed across all racial and ethnic groups.
Neckles cautioned that these declines do not mean the mental health crisis is improving at large. Overdose rates, for example, have reached record-high levels in New York City, surpassing 3,000 deaths in 2022.
However, data do indicate where the city is seeing progress and where it is not, pointing to places where officials can target solutions.
Neckles also presented data around the DOHMH resources for individuals with severe mental illness. She said that supportive housing has increased to 11,800 units citywide — about a third of the city’s supportive housing capacity. Mobile treatment capacity, which includes Assertive Community Treatment and Intensive Mobile Treatment teams, has nearly doubled in the last decade. Clubhouse capacity, which offers community-based social support, has risen to 5,000 in the current fiscal year.
“Our capacity has grown for specialty [severe mental illness treatment],” Neckles said, adding that “demand is pretty consistent for the services and people stay in them a long time.” The community services board meets once every quarter.