Reducing barriers to accessing mental health

HOST: The following portion of 8 West is sponsored by Mentavi Health. If access to mental health care is a barrier, you don’t have to live near a specialist or wait months to take the first step to improve your mental health. That’s where Mentavi Health, our mental health expert, comes in. Today, we are talking with Mentavi’s CEO, Keith Brophy, and Dr. Barry K. Herman, Mentavi’s chief medical officer. Gentlemen, welcome to 8 West. Thank you for having us. So, Keith, before we dig in, we’re going to start with you — can you tell us a little bit about this model? Do people use this really from anywhere? It’s a really easy start.

KEITH BROPHY: You can truly use it from anywhere. Our system is virtual, so wherever a person can get into the web, they can get to us. And then we offer a secure, private experience of a diagnostic process. Our diagnoses are comprehensive and reviewed by one of our mental health psychologists with an optional treatment path.

HOST: A lot of folks watching, they may not know exactly what Mentavi Health is, who you are, and what you do.

KEITH BROPHY: Mentavi Health has been around for a while now, about 8 years, and we started with a focus on ADHD and gradually expanded to a focus on general mental health, anxiety, depression, ADHD. And we provide an easy-to-start online journey to mental health diagnosis and treatment where warranted. We started right here in Grand Rapids, and we’re in all 50 states now.

HOST: Oh, wow. That’s quite the expansion. Okay, so Barry, this next one — we’re going to bring you into the conversation, as this one does hit close to home for a lot of people. What are we actually talking about today in clinical terms?

DR. BARRY HERMAN: In clinical terms, the same symptoms that people are experiencing can often come from several different conditions, and several of these conditions can present at the same time. For example, someone who says, “I can’t focus, I’m feeling overwhelmed, I’m falling behind at work, I can’t get anything done” — at first glance, this may sound like perhaps ADHD. But when you look more closely and carefully, that same person may be struggling with anxiety, depression, poor sleep, or even another condition. And sometimes several of these are occurring at the same time. That’s why simply identifying one symptom, or using a simple single screener, just isn’t enough. You have to look at the whole person in order to be able to tell what’s going on.

HOST: So, Barry, why do so many of these overlapping issues get missed so often?

DR. BARRY HERMAN: It’s easy to get derailed and focus on one symptom, or a few symptoms, and then kind of miss the big picture. That’s why you really have to deconstruct, or take apart, somebody’s symptomatology and look much more closely at what’s going on underneath everything.

HOST: Can you give us a real-world sense of what this looks like?

DR. BARRY HERMAN: Yeah, sure. I mean, somebody doesn’t come to us saying, “I have ADHD, and I have depression, and I have anxiety.” They’re much more likely to say something like, “I can’t concentrate, I’m exhausted, I worry about things all the time, my life isn’t the way it used to be.” So our job is to really understand what’s underneath all of that, and that’s been our approach all along with our diagnostic evaluation.

HOST: And I think this next question is going to help answer a thing a lot of people wonder — do you have to be in crisis or struggling at that precise moment in order to reach out?

DR. BARRY HERMAN: Absolutely not. In fact, if you just have a sense that something isn’t right, that something’s going on, it’s always better to find out what’s going on earlier on. The earlier we can catch something that may be starting — in terms of the beginning of some kind of problem — the much better the outcome is, because we can intervene earlier, we can initiate treatment earlier, and we know that leads to better outcomes.

HOST: Okay. And Keith —

KEITH BROPHY: But our whole model is based on making it easy to take that first step.

HOST: And I know we always love announcements, and I hear you have an exciting announcement. What can we look for as Mentavi continues to evolve?

KEITH BROPHY: We do have an exciting announcement. We’re known for our comprehensive approach to looking at comorbidities in the full person. For example, 70% of all those with ADHD, according to the CDC, have more than one mental health condition — like anxiety or depression. So our diagnostic process is already comprehensive, but we’re adding to it with a release coming this fall. It’s going to become even more comprehensive. We’re adding a screener for adult spectrum autism. And we’re really excited that, in recognition of the nation’s mental health crisis, we’re going to offer our Mental Health Snapshot — a recurring screener at no cost. So if somebody can make it to our site, they can take the snapshot to start their journey, or take an even more comprehensive diagnostic evaluation, if that’s what fits them.

HOST: So, if someone watching is thinking, “this is me” — how or where do they get started?

KEITH BROPHY: That first step comes really easy — just go to mentavi.com. Our patients sometimes come to us referred by their primary care physicians, but they can also reach us directly through the website, and from there they’ll be able to create an account and start their journey.

HOST: All right, Keith, Dr. Herman, thank you so much for joining us today. Here on 8 West, we appreciate your time. And the preceding portion of 8 West is sponsored by Mentavi Health. We’ll be right back with more 8 West, so don’t go away.