By Stefan Yablonski
Although mental illnesses are recognized as an urgent health challenge, they are often severely neglected and those affected are reluctant to talk about their trouble.
In late 2022, Vinny Lobdell’s family donated $1 million to Oswego Health for its Lakeview Center for Mental Health and Wellness.
His older brother, Rusty, was diagnosed with schizophrenia — and nearly 30 years ago, took his own life at the age of 19.
“We wished that Lakeview was here when our brother was still with us,” Vinny said.
Even today many people still don’t seek help for their mental health issues.
“Unfortunately, I think there is still a lot of stigma attached,” said. Julienee Capria, a psychiatrist with the Mental Health & Wellness team at Oswego Health. “People are still somewhat reluctant to reaching out for help. They think they’ll be judged not well … there is something wrong with me,”
“What I’d really like people to understand about themselves and their loved ones is that there is no such thing as a person with perfect mental health — there just isn’t,” Capria added.
Everyone has thoughts about making improvements in their lives. But, don’t compare; be the best version of yourself, she encouraged.
Oftentimes, warning signs about someone’s mental health can be difficult to see. People don’t want to talk about it. It’s hard sometimes for them to put these feelings into words, Capria said.
“Are they not going out as much? Is it hard to get a hold of them? Are they disappearing from social media, not responding to messages from people trying to get a hold of them? Are they staying in their room more? Are they talking about feeling trapped?” she asked. “It’s very hard to put these things into words sometimes. People feeling down or depressed think it will go away, they will feel better in a while.”
Lakeview Center has a variety of services that it offers people, different levels of mental health care, in-patient and out-patient.
On top of that, there’s community support — OCO and others offer housing support, transportation and more, Capria said.
It’s not unusual for a doctor to see dozens of patients.
“At Oswego Health, we understand the importance of mental health and wellness in overall health and well-being. Every single day, we’re here fighting to reduce stigma and improve overall quality of life for the people in our community, whether they’re struggling with depression, anxiety, stress, addiction or any other mental health condition,” Capria said. “In 2023, our Mental Health and Wellness team helped 2,677 patients with the services they need to live a healthy lifestyle in an outpatient setting; they also worked collaboratively with 574 inpatients. We do our best.”
Oswego Health’s Mental Health and Wellness team was cited among 36 “Hospitals and health systems with great psychiatry and mental health programs” by Becker’s Hospital Review.
