You Can Now Get Low-Cost Mental Health Counselling At CVS

Mental HealthMay 7, 2021

For the most part, we’re quite affected by physical health-related concerns when COVID-19 had struck. That’s understandable, but what about mental health? And to put it straight – even before the pandemic had struck, numerous people were suffering and needed urgent mental health help.

Now that a year has passed and we have borne unimaginable hardships. This includes emotional, psychological, economic, and social distress. We have joined the league of people who are in dire need of mental counseling or therapeutic assistance.

How Has The Issue Spiked Up?

Haven’t we heard of plenty of cases where families are falling apart owing to financial struggles or just because they had no one to hear them? Well, that’s how the pandemic has been. As per the Kaiser Family Foundation research data, the number of people who dealt with symptoms of anxiety and depression have (literally) tripled and quadrupled since the pandemic had begun. From dysfunctional families to countless job losses, things have not been easy for a vast majority of the population. Clients have reported how it started with one, and then all the members of the family contracted the virus.

Among them, one or two even died! Luckily, some families didn’t lose anyone. Also, being socially isolated took its toll and stirred up childhood traumas in few. As a result, seeking help became mandatory. There’ve been many, and even now, the numbers keep adding. So when you contact the therapists, sometimes the appointments take a month or even more. In these circumstances, patients are often confused.

As a result, they had to change the practitioner in the hope of reaching out to someone. They need someone readily available and not push them further towards feeling suicidal. More people are now aware of the grim realities and how seeking therapy is a step towards the right direction, making it positive. But then finding therapists, and worse, even the affordability factor under these tough times, is undoubtedly a challenge. Akin to messiahs, few clients found help in a rather ‘unorthodox’ zone- the local CVS.

CVS And Its Rescue Mission For The Mentally Affected

Considering the accessibility, budget, and need to improve mental health, it’s a welcome change seeing CVS Pharmacy offering counseling in a few of its retail stores. The company makes all such attempts to fill gaps in mental health provisions by fixing these counseling sessions. Also, by negotiating with few insurance companies who would cover visits, it’s doing all it can to minimize the rising costs of mental health care and support.

Perhaps things wouldn’t have taken a turn for the worse, like therapists getting overbooked or rise in charges- if the pandemic didn’t happen. To add to the woes, few do not even accept insurance, which of course, puts additional pressures upon the consumers to shell out quick bucks from their pockets for every visit.

How Has CVS Changed The Pattern Of Seeking Professional Mental Health Help?

The national pharmacy has started with the mental health pilot program this year in January in close to a dozen stores in Tampa, Houston, and Philadelphia. According to the NPR reports, it has plans to roll out a few more throughout the country.

At present, one can avail of the services in few CVS pharmacies like Pennsylvania, Texas, and Florida, but we’re glad that the program will keep expanding to at least 34 this year.

What’s praiseworthy is that experts target ‘diverse communities’ where mental health care isn’t always available, like Pa, north of Philadelphia and Jenkintown, to name a few. This is somewhat reminiscent of Walmart in 2018, when it started small and now has close to 20 locations of mental health clinics scattered throughout the nation, offering diagnosis and basic care.

Health Sectors Where CVS Did Wonders

An extension of CVS HelathHUBs that exists in close to 650 of nearly 10000 sites- the program deserves all the appreciation for dispensing urgent care and also wellness items, like sleep apnea machines. The goal is to create a place that would offer feasible consumers’ eye tests, diabetes screenings, and even vaccinations alongside mental health treatments.

This model is fairly new. And the hope is that it would reduce the obstacles by bringing this service closer home and more accessible to everyone.