As a Northwestern College professor of social work, Donna Van Peursem is used to teaching. Her class looked a little different during her appearance at the Feb. 11 Sioux Center Chamber of Commerce meeting, when she presented a little lesson on mental health.
Van Peursem, who is also a part-time clinical case manager for Connections, Inc., brought her years of experience in the field of mental health, noting positive changes in how people think of mental health and the easing of stigmas for seeking help.
“What I want to do today is talk about what is mental health and then compare it to what is considered mental illness, to look some of the statistics that we’re seeing across the U.S. and filtering it down a little bit to what are we seeing in Iowa and then even what are we seeing here in Sioux County,” Van Peursem said. “And then, because you all are involved in some kind of Sioux Center business, to talk about what are some things that businesses can do not only for yourself but also in the community and some of the people who work alongside you.”
The Centers for Disease Control and the American Psychological Association came up with a broad definition for mental health.
“Mental health is not simply the absence of a mental health condition. It is also about the presence of wellbeing and the ability to thrive. That is what we are looking for as well; when people are feeling secure with their mental health, what are the other things that need to be in place in their lives to have that sense of wellbeing and how do we thrive,” Van Peursem said.
She added that there is a difference between mental health and mental illness, with mental illness coming down to diagnosable mental health disorders. Anxiety is by far the most common mental illness she comes across, although depression is quite common, too.
When considering what constitutes a serious mental health condition, she turned to examples of chronic illnesses that can severely impact someone’s ability to live a normal life.
“When we’re looking at those, a person will not recover from a serious mental health condition. There are brain chemistry changes and it’s a chronic kind of thing, like with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia,” Van Peursem said. “It doesn’t mean that person can’t have some kind of functioning with medication and treatment and support groups and all of that kind of thing.”
Mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression can be chronic in some cases or maybe are only felt for a period of time but can be addressed through different means, including mental health treatment, behavioral changes or medication.
“It might be the only time of their life that they experience that. Especially as we look at it from a diagnostic perspective, we’re always looking at making an assessment for people. Like, what are the things that are contributing to it?” Van Peursem said.
Those contributing factors can include such things as genetics, home life or financial instability.
Hidden problems
One of the main messages she had for the chamber members is that mental illnesses are common but frequently not noticeable to the general public. According to statistics she has found, as many as one in four people have a diagnosable mental health disorder. For youth, it’s one in nine.
“The thing about it is with mental illness, I can’t go, oh, that’s you, you and you. That’s often a hidden thing,” she said, adding, “Oftentimes when people are in those situations, they think, ‘I’m the only one,’ and it feels like an isolating thing when you’re struggling, which is really one of the benefits of a support group. All of a sudden you’re in a room and you’re like, ‘I’m not the only one.’”
Symptoms can be described on a spectrum, too, of mild, moderate or severe. The difference is in how well the person functions with their illness.
“A person with mild anxiety symptoms may still be able to function well. They’re able to go to work, they’re able to participate in things. There’s something obviously causing some issue with their daily functioning,” Van Peursem said. “And certainly as we go up on that spectrum, you would have people who have a harder time functioning. They might not be able to go to work and as a business, you might notice they’re calling in sick a lot more or they’re not as productive as they were.”
Despite the challenge of how common mental illness is, there is less stigma around finding helping and greater access to resources and support, whether it’s guidance counselors for students or local therapy services, which are positive changes.
Looking at Iowa in particular, Van Peursem had mixed news and numbers to share with the chamber members. For starters, Iowa ranks 43rd in the nation for access to mental health care workers, though the state’s numbers have been improving.
“We have had a 30-percent increase in mental health care workers in Iowa from September of 2020 up until September of 2024,” she said. “When I started with Creative Living Center back in 2002, there were not many mental health therapists around. You had some little pockets. We are blessed in Sioux County right now with some really good mental health therapists. We’ve got guidance counselors, we’ve got Restore, we’ve got Promise. Most of the hospitals have some kind of mental health provider there. You have a lot of resources. However, do people have access to that? Do they know about that?”
She pointed to the Sioux County Community Health Partners website as having an excellent list of mental health resources.
Where Iowa still struggles is with the number of psychiatric beds. In that regard, Iowa ranks 51st in the nation, counting Washington, D.C.
“When we look at the amount of psychiatric beds they have, I believe between the two facilities, there are 64 beds available for adults and 32 for adolescents. There are some private and some county beds as well, but we really have about 800 total in our state. Some of those beds are filled all the time with people who really are not safe to be out in the community,” she said. “Our need is so much greater than the amount of beds we have, which is really unfortunate. This is something they’re talking about and has been brought up in front of our state representatives, that we need to figure out how we can improve some of this.”
The problem is that for many of the people who need these beds aren’t in a position to wait; they have immediate needs that can’t be fully addressed as a result of the shortage.
“What happens then is they usually get brought to the hospitals, which aren’t equipped for that long-term care. And as a family member, if you’re concerned someone is going to follow through with suicide, I don’t want to take them home – I want to keep them safe,” she said. “That’s something we want to continue to focus on as a state, how do we expand some of that?”
Impact to work
Mental health isn’t only a private matter; its effects can seep into all parts of life, including at work. One of the big impacts on a workplace is absenteeism as a result of poor mental health or issues from mental illness. It can also be a sign of other problems, such as substance abuse.
It can add up to harming workplace productivity and declining relationships at work.
To help improve mood at work, Van Peursem had some small suggestions for the audience. It can start with trying to foster a better workplace environment through such things as improved ergonomics with the chairs and desks used.
One of the most powerful things is access to the outdoors, whether it’s the chance to take a short walk during the work day or have the ability to take lunch outside when the weather is nice.
“Some of it is just encouraging people and yourself, are people doing nutrition programs? What’s available in the workplace? Encouraging people to do a yearly physical. There is a huge correlation between our mind and our body,” she said.
Van Peursem also encouraged employers to encourage their workers to utilize any mental health benefits the company has available and to make sure they understand such resources are available for them to use.
“Always as we think about wellbeing, encourage people to do that self-care as well,” she said. “What kinds of things do people need so that they feel like they have that self-care, encouraging that exercise, eating healthy, sleeping well. All those different things we think of when we think about self-care.”