Mental health in the time of COVID-19

Air Date:
Thursday, July 9, 2020

About This Episode

At her July 9 Zoom fireside chat, Elizabeth "Betsy" Cantwell, SVP for Research & Innovation, will host a panel discussion on the mental health impacts of COVID-19 in our community. In addition to our panel of experts, Dr. Cantwell will be joined by RII Chief of Staff John O'Neil, a member of the university's Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT); Vice President of Operations Sangita Pawar; and Senior Director Lori Schultz.

Show Notes

Panel of experts:

Patricia Haynes (Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health) is a licensed clinical psychologist with expertise in sleep and stressful life events. She is currently wrapping up an R01 studying the health effects of involuntary unemployment and has also studied the short- and long-term effects of other types of traumatic events. Haynes is an Associate Professor in Health Promotion Sciences with affiliate appointments with Psychology and Psychiatry. Currently, a significant portion of her time is devoted to service work as the licensed clinical psychologist for the Tucson Fire Department, providing direct clinical services to firefighters.

Chris Segrin (Department of Communications) is a behavioral scientist whose specialty is interpersonal relationships and mental health. His research focuses on social skills, relationship development and satisfaction, and such problems as depression, anxiety, loneliness, and marital distress. In addition to his appointment in the Department of Communications, Segrin is an adjunct professor of psychology and family studies. Prior to joining the faculty at UArizona, Segrin was on the faculty of the University of Kansas and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Segrin’s recent research studies focus on topics including why lonely people have more health problems and how to develop methods to improve quality of life (e.g., depression, anxiety, relationship satisfaction, social support) for patients undergoing cancer treatment.

Francisco Moreno (University of Arizona Health Sciences) is associate vice president for diversity and inclusion at UAHS, where he is responsible for creating a comprehensive network of meaningful diversity-and-inclusion initiatives, programs and strategies to improve the diversity of the healthcare workforce statewide.  He was a speaker recently in the UAHS webinar series addressing racism.

Patricia Harrison-Monroe (College of Medicine) has been on faculty in the Department of Psychiatry for the past 14 years and currently serves as vice chair, director of community outreach and clinical development, and director of the Early Psychosis Intervention Center (EPICenter). She has been recognized as one of the 25 most influential African-Americans in Arizona, is a member of the College of Medicine Faculty Diversity Advisory Committee, and serves on various additional College of Medicine committees to address medical students’ and community mental health needs.

Prior to moving to Tucson in 2002, Harrison-Monroe was assistant commissioner with the New York City Department of Mental Health. In that role, her responsibilities included oversight of behavioral health services in two of New York City’s boroughs, and the development of culturally and linguistically relevant services to reflect the needs of significantly diverse populations. She was also honored for her service in the aftermath of the World Trade Center disaster. Harrison-Monroe holds a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Columbia University, New York.

Mental health book recommendations from the panelists:

  • Quiet Your Mind and Get to Sleep (Manber and Carney)
  • Lost Connections (Johann Hari)
  • Feeling Good (David Burns)
  • Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers (Robert Sapolsky)
  • The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (Bessel van der Kolk)

Mental health book recommendations from attendees: Coming soon

A few support resources: Coming soon

Q&A with panelists: Coming Soon

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