When a person is diagnosed with a physical disease such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, their family and friends empathize and rally around their loved one. Even though illnesses of the brain are physical diseases too, people diagnosed with a mental illness are often viewed in a different light than those with other physical ailments. Why does society create this stigma around mental illness when in reality, mental illness is exactly like other physical diseases?  Mostly, the answer lies in the misperceptions and unknown science about our brains. 

How close are you to a person living with a mental illness? Did you know that one in five people have a diagnosed mental disorder? These can include anxiety, clinical depression, or borderline personality disorder. In the five surrounding counties of Lubbock (Lynn, Cochran, Crosby and Hockley) three percent of the population is living with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, substance use disorders and intellectual disabilities.
For more than 50 years, StarCare Specialty Health System has provided a diverse array of specialty healthcare services. These services support and empower people living with behavioral health diseases and intellectual disabilities. Today, StarCare serves 8,000 people in their service delivery area. At the front lines of Lubbock’s mental health crisis, StarCare delivers behavioral health education and mental illness anti-stigma campaigns along with psychiatric, intellectual disabilities and substance use disorder specialty healthcare services.

However, as a company, they know they alone cannot hold the line of our community’s mental health crisis. Together with many community partnerships reinforced through their Chamber membership, StarCare and their collaborators are serving our community, expanding existing services and creating new ones. For example:

• StarCare, Texas Tech University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock County, City of Lubbock, University Medical Center and The Community Foundation of West Texas have teamed up to address mental health efforts and the wellbeing of Lubbock citizens.
• StarCare and the Lubbock Police Department partner through LPD’s Mental Health Peace Officer Initiative and StarCare’s Crisis Intervention Teams to provide immediate care for individuals in mental crisis. As opposed to taking them to an emergency room or to jail, where they would have to wait for care.
• StarCare and the Lubbock County Sherriff’s Office partner through StarCare’s jail based competency restoration program. They offer mental health services inside the jail to help inmates receive mental health care and education about the legal system.
• StarCare, Covenant Health System, and Hockley County partner through StarCare’s satellite Outpatient Behavioral Health Clinic in Levelland to bring mental health and substance use disorder services closer to home.
• StarCare, Region 17, Texas Tech University, and local ISDs partner to provide Mental Health First Aid training to school and university teachers along with faculty and staff to help identify students who may be in need of mental healthcare.