More Tampa Bay residents investing in mental health resources, according to new report

TAMPA, Fla. - A new report shows how mental health struggles are impacting Tampa Bay residents’ daily lives.

Tampa Bay Thrives shared its findings from its second annual resident mental health report. The coalition conducted a survey and focus groups with residents.

Tampa Bay Thrives’ President and CEO said they formed the coalition in 2019. It’s made up of hospital providers, law enforcement, first responders, schools and employers.

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The report shows that more people are investing in mental health resources, but there is still work to be done.

"Cost continues to be the biggest barrier regardless of whether or not someone has insurance," President and CEO Carrie Zeisse explained. "There are also issues around trying to find a counselor that looks like me or understands the things that I'm going through."

Tampa Bay Thrives released a new report about mental health struggles.

Zeisse said the number of days of work that people say they missed due to mental health reasons was up from last year.

"Last year, for people who indicated that mental health issues were really getting in the way of their work, the average was about three days of work that they were reporting missing per month," she said. "That percentage not only went up 4% to 14% of all respondents indicated that mental health issues were enough that it was keeping them from attending work one or more days a month, but the average number of days went up to four."

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Zeisse said based on the population in Tampa, that adds up to a total of around 525,000 work days missed due to mental health reasons.

However, the report does show promising changes in some areas.

"The number of people who indicated they were actively seeking help and unable to find it went down by about 2%, which is a good thing," Zeisse shared. "We did see a decrease in stigma. More people talking to friends and family rather than not feeling like they could."

The report indicates that more people are investing in mental health.

Tampa Bay Thrives also found some generational differences in how people talk about mental health.

"Young people are very willing to talk about their mental health, but a parent’s attitude around being willing to have that conversation does influence if they feel comfortable getting into care," she said. "So when we ask parents in the survey, ‘Do you talk about mental health with your kids?’ There were still about a third of them who said they weren't quite comfortable with it."

Zeisse also pointed to a nationwide issue of a lack of providers.

She said they are constantly working with their partners to create more pathways for people to access mental health resources.

"Finding ways to connect to our behavioral health providers to make it easier for people to get into care, making sure that our advertising might be where you're looking for information," she explained.

Over the last several years, Tampa Bay Thrives launched campaigns focused on breaking the mental health stigma and its "Let’s Talk" hotline.

The coalition will use this report to guide its work over the next year.