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After weeks of declining COVID-19 infections, Butte County’s numbers spiked dramatically during the last week of 2021. Between Dec. 26 and Jan. 1, there were 701 new cases, the highest total since the summer surge and nearly triple the amount from the week before (242). According to Butte County Public Health, early sequencing results show that the omicron variant accounted for nearly 22 percent of infections in the county in December.

The rising local numbers follow a national trend that’s seen unchecked omicron- and delta-fueled spread of the coronavirus, with infections up 254 percent in the United States over the past two weeks (as of Jan. 5). So far, hospitalizations aren’t growing at the same rate across the country; however, those numbers are still up 51 percent for the same two-week period.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccination greatly reduces the risk of infection and severity of COVID-19 (unvaccinated are fi ve times more likely to be infected than vaccinated; 10 times more than those with booster dose). Vaccines and boosters are available at local pharmacies and community clinics. Visit myturn.ca.gov or pharmacy websites to schedule an appointment.

CITY OKS SUIT SETTLEMENT

Taking a big step toward resolution, the Chico City Council unanimously approved a settlement agreement for the federal lawsuit challenging its approach to homelessness.

The 7-0 decision, in closed session at the council meeting Tuesday night (Jan. 4), sends the agreement to Judge Morrison C. England, Jr., who must sign an order authorizing the terms. The city’s announcement said this could take up to two weeks.

The lawsuit, Warren v. City of Chico, dates to last April, when eight plaintiffs represented by Legal Services of Northern California sued over the city’s anti-homeless ordinances and lack of shelter options. England issued a temporary restraining order, then an injunction, barring enforcement actions such as sweeps of encampments—and subsequently added a gag order preventing public disclosure of negotiations (see “From all sides,” chico.newsreview.com).

City Manager Mark Orme told the CN&R that with the injunction in place, terms cannot be released until England signs the order.

‘Not alone’

Pandemic has taken toll on mental health, motivating some to seek treatment and use technology to connect

by Ashiah Scharaga a s h i a h s @ n e w s r e v i e w . c o m

In early 2020, Kyle Williams’ life was filled with travel and music—he’d perform at venues in Chico and connect with fans who had known him for years, then do it all over again in another city—Oroville, Sonoma, Reno, etc.

But in an instant, a profession that sustained him creatively, emotionally and financially vanished. Venues closed their doors indefinitely when the coronavirus pandemic escalated and quarantine shutdowns began in March 2020.

Williams found himself reeling from this dramatic shift—in addition to being suddenly unemployed, he had recently gone through a separation and began sharing custody of his two children. For the first time in his life, Williams experienced depression, he recently told the CN&R.

“I went from being out and about playing music three to four times a week to total isolation. … I didn’t realize how much I got from being out and around people, when I do gigs and connect with people,” he said. “The

HEALTH

Included in the conversation about COVID-19 infections and ICU capacities is the impact the pandemic has had on our collective mental health. For this special health section, the CN&R reports on the help that is available to address the issue—from counseling and other county programs to new psychedelic therapies.

Kyle Williams’ life changed dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting him to seek mental health treatment.

P H OTO BY AS H I A H S C H A R AG A

weeks the kids weren’t there were really low and dark.”

As the pandemic, now in its third year, has continued to ravage the world, with over 5.4 million dead from the disease, it has also taken a toll on mental health. Butte County Behavioral Health has seen a growing need for care as clients’ anxiety and depression has worsened, all while grappling with a shortage of health professionals, who are mentally taxed themselves. This mirrors what is happening nationally. According to a New York Times poll of 1,320 U.S. mental health professionals and clinicians, demand has surged and wait times are longer. General anxiety and depression are the most common reasons people are seeking support, along with relationship issues.

However, mental health providers have also witnessed a decrease in stigma when it comes to seeking treatment and have found that telemedicine has helped break down barriers to accessing care. Local professionals who spoke with the CN&R also emphasized the importance of self-care and finding ways to connect with others during this time of uncertainty.

Finding support

In the wake of the pandemic, Williams realized he had to find another way besides playing music to make money in order to have the financial stability needed to care for his kids, he said. He’s now raising funds to attend massage therapy school. While worthwhile, it’s been a tough transition for him, because performing has been “so intertwined with my identity, my passion and connection to other people.”

Though the isolation, depression and financial struggles he’s experienced over the past couple years were at times paralyzing, he said, they also motivated him to learn more about mental health and eventually seek care.

Social media was an important resource that helped him feel less alone, he said. He discovered videos on TikTok created by others who were struggling with their mental health, which was not only “validating and affirming,” he said, but helped inspire him to seek treatment. When he recently checked into the Chico Family Health Center, he posted about it publicly on Facebook and received a lot of support—friends telling him “you are not alone” and “I am so proud of you.”

Williams is now being treated for depression and has an appointment with a psychiatrist to evaluate whether he has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, as well.

Though he’s still concerned about the shift in his career and uncertainty of the future, Williams said he is hopeful about his treatment. Throughout his struggles, there have been people in his life who have “really shown up when I’m honest about this and where I’m at mentally, and they make space for it,” he said.

“I’m really grateful for that time, as hard as it was.”

Williams is, indeed, not alone in his mental health struggles during the pandemic, according to Jessica Wood, a supervisor with Butte County Behavioral Health’s Adult Services, which provides therapy and rehabilitation services to adults with mental illness. Her team has seen an intensification of depression and anxiety as well as feelings of frustration and fear of the unknown among their clients, some of whom are also struggling with increased alcohol use.

During this time, expanded telemedicine services have allowed the county to overcome some folks’ barriers to treatment. It’s been especially crucial for those with social anxiety, paranoia or other conditions that make in-person appointments difficult and for those who lack transportation, Wood said. Telehealth services have also helped the county better collaborate and have improved patient access to care, added Jess Gilligan, program manager for BCBH Youth Services. For example, a client seeking psychiatric care in Gridley can be virtually connected to an available doctor in Paradise.

“Inter-agency coordination has been strong, and technology has been able to help us with that,” she said. However, the demand has been so great and there is a shortage of health care professionals, she added, so “case load size has increased dramatically.”

This means that some patients “might not be seen as often” as they would like, Wood added, but the county identifies those with the most severe mental health issues and prioritizes their appointments and care. Behavioral Health also began assigning clients a small team of providers (such as a counselor/ therapist, nurse, psychiatrist, housing specialist, and/or peer support specialist), in order to have “more hands on deck” to address client needs as well as staff turnover, Gilligan added.

Other new programs have also made an impact during the pandemic, Wood and Gilligan said. The county launched Wellness Recovery Action Plan (or WRAP) groups in 2021 for its clients and staff at some of its centers. WRAP focuses on hope, personal responsibility, education, self-advocacy and support, Wood said, with each participant creating a plan to identify areas in which they may need assistance in order to improve their quality of life. It’s also used in individual therapy as well.

Wood and Gilligan said this programming has made a difference. Gilligan had two staff members expressing concerns about burnout, and after attending a WRAP group, “they came back rejuvenated and excited” about their jobs again. These employees are now helping BCBH expand the program to more of its centers.

“This is hard work to do and to sustain,” said Wood, who leads staff WRAP groups. “We’re teaching people it’s OK to advocate for yourself; it’s OK to get support; … [you]’re not alone. Even though we’re the helpers, we have hard days too, and learning it’s OK to talk to your coworkers about that— it’s powerful.”

Kindess and coping

Since launching her practice in the 1990s, local therapist Silona Reyman has witnessed the resiliency of the human spirit and tenacity with which people continue holding onto hope despite tremendous suffering.

Reyman has experienced what she calls a “trifecta of catastrophe” the past couple years. Her husband died suddenly in 2019. Then the pandemic hit. And in 2021, she was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer that is spreading and inoperable. But it’s been a time in which she’s experienced a lot of love an d—though it may seem strange, she said—a lot of gratitude, too.

She’s focused on small things that bring her joy each day: a surprise peach pie left at her door by a friend, for example; reading the paper while drinking a good cup of coffee in the morning. She’s focused on the things she also suggests for her clients when they are going through a tough time: exercising, eating well and staying connected to others. Even just one confidante can help, she said, whether it’s a family member or a close friend.

As the pandemic progressed, Reyman noticed similar changes with her clients as Wood and Gilligan have with BCBH—anxiety and depression are common and can be really acute for those who’d experienced them before the pandemic began. As people have been cut off from their usual rituals, it has led to more feelings of loneliness and pessimism, especially as the pandemic has lingered, Reyman said. Divisiveness over politics and health and safety mandates has contributed to rising frustration. There’s a fatigue that wears away at the hope that people have for a better tomorrow.

“There’s a tendency for us to feel very alone, and now in particular, because we are drifting in this confused and unsure world on this path that seems endless,” she said.

The people who are coping the best are those who are “taking care of their health as best as they can,” not just physically but mentally, Reyman said. Being kind—to oneself as well as others—and patient is key.

“We’re just in a tough, tough spot,” she said. “Turn that love back on yourself.”

She encourages her clients to accept whatever feelings arise, even though it is challenging.

“I worry about people who push away the grief or the fear or the sadness,” Reyman said. “It is so healing just to walk through it, as difficult [as it is].

Gratitude lists may sound “Pollyanna-ish when you’re suffering,” she added, but can be useful tools. Reyman uses them and also keeps a list of activities that help her cope when she’s having particularly hard days, such as journaling, reading poetry, meditating and praying, and spending time with her children.

“I do feel there’s so much anger in the air, and frustration…. If we have something solid beneath us—a therapist or a friend or family, or basic good health—really take that in. That’s a blessing,” she said. “Whatever you’ve got, savor it.”

Wood echoed these sentiments and encouraged people to use mindfulness and a gratitude stance to help themselves cope, as well as reaching out to loved ones and seeking mental health care if they are struggling.

“We’re in this together.” Ω

Local therapist Silona Reyman turns to her favorite activities when she’s having a particularly hard mental health day. Reach out If you or a loved one are in need of mental health services or experiencing a mental health crisis, call the Butte County Behavioral Health access line at 530-891-2810. Visit buttecounty.net /behavioralhealth for information on available county services.

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Opening minds

Ketamine therapy takes root locally amid mental health crisis

story and photos by Evan Tuchinsky

e v a n t @ n e w s r e v i e w . c o m

Alexandra Kriz felt she had to do something. As the pandemic dragged into its second year, the Chicoan found her community in the throes of a mental health crisis triggered by a string of countywide traumas—from the Oroville Dam spillway disaster to deadly wildfires—exacerbated by coronavirus restrictions in an area where residents already grapple with effects of state-leading levels of adverse childhood experiences (or ACEs).

She found herself particularly concerned after reading about a rise in suicides and suicidal thoughts in young people (see “Kids in crisis,” News, March 9, 2021)—including students (and a teacher) at Chico High.

Kriz, who battled post-traumatic stress after serving in the U.S. Army, told the CN&R she’s been “screaming from the rooftops” since the Camp Fire “that we need to have a comprehensive solution to treat mass-scale trauma in our community. As a veteran who was sexually assaulted, I know what it feels like to live with untreated trauma and the chaos it brings, the suffering and the fallout that inevitably occurs when you’re living in that space.

“One of the factors in that [comprehensive solution] was using psychedelic therapy because of its efficacy in treating things such as treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, anxiety [and] suicidal ideation.”

The psychedelic therapy in question involves the use of ketamine. Though stigmatized by its use as a recreational drug, it has a long history as an anesthetic and ranks among the World Health Organization’s essential medicines. Medical practitioners have expanded the administration of ketamine to alleviate pain as well address opiate addiction and psychiatric conditions, with studies confirming effectiveness and safety.

Kriz and her partner, vibrationalsound therapist Jesse Spallina, teamed up with an integrative medicine physician from the Bay Area, Dr. Daniel Rieders, to offer ketamine injections in Chico. The result is Phoenix Nest Community Project, a nonprofit collaborative opened last year and encompassing a range of holistic healing.

Left: Alexandra Kriz, co-founder of Phoenix Nest Community Project, calls her center “a sacred space with clinical safety.”

Concurrently, local medical practice Interventional Pain Solutions—which has provided ketamine infusions to pain patients for years—broadened its therapeutic scope and launched Norcal Ketamine Infusion Centers.

Situated on the ground floor of an office complex on Humboldt Road, Phoenix Nest’s facility features a handful of therapy rooms, each distinctly decorated. Clients choose whichever feels most comfortable. The setting matters because of ketamine’s psychoactive properties. Staff include Dr. R. Carter Clements, an emergency physician who commutes from Orinda to work for the clinic; registered nurse Lori Moreno; and Kriz, who’s completing her Ph.D. in clinical psychology.

“We refer to our center as a sacred space with clinical safety,” Kriz said. “Our approach to things, rather than making it about the medicine, is making it about the human connection and the experience that comes along with the use of the medicine.”

The practitioners behind Interventional Pain Solutions recognize the same thing. That’s why they’ve created a separate setup via Norcal Ketamine Infusion Centers, which will grow beyond the single Chico location on East Avenue to Redding and Lincoln, other cities served by the pain-management practice. As at Phoenix Nest, the infusion center features quiet rooms where patients listen to music and relax during treatments.

“We’ve had really good results with the ketamine for refractory depression [i.e., resistant to treatment], PTSD, obviously chronic pain,” said Dr. Zachary Lipman, an anesthesiologist and pain medicine specialist with the practice. “Therapies don’t work for everybody. So when you have something that’s new and different that somebody hasn’t tried, I think there’s a big need for it.”

Proven treatment

Ketamine dates to the 1960s as an anesthetic for animals that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for human use in 1970. It’s particularly safe because, at proper dosages, it doesn’t slow the heart or breathing—unlike other anesthetics—but ketamine does create a dissociative experience that led the federal government to classify it as a controlled substance.

It works in the brain on opiate receptors as well as receptors for glutamate, a chemical through which neurons communicate. Research released by the National Institutes of Health has validated the efficacy of ketamine for not just anesthesia or pain but also PTSD and severe depression.

“The data on that is really profoundly positive,” Clements told the CN&R by phone in reference to ketamine’s antidepressive properties. “You won’t necessarily cure their depression, but you’ll cure their suicidality with a single treatment—which, when you think about it, is just amazing, because there aren’t a lot of therapies in medicine that work that well with a single dose.”

Whether by injection at Phoenix Nest or infusion at Norcal, the regimen may require one, a few or a handful of treatments, with an additional dose after several months. A session at Phoenix Nest incorporates pre- and post-treatment counseling, runs 90 minutes to two hours and costs $600—though the nonprofit has a sliding scale based on income. Norcal is cash pay, too, at $400 per 40-minute treatment.

“There’s a stigma,” Lipman said, referring to recreational use of the drug nicknamed Special K. “[An anesthetic like] Propofol, in the hands of the wrong person, can kill Michael Jackson [for example]; you have to be careful with any anesthetic. But in the hands of a professional, [ketamine is] a very effective medication for these uses.”

Clements agreed. He joined Phoenix Nest because of the need he—like Kriz—saw locally to address trauma. He currently works two days a week in Chico but next month will increase his commitment to three.

“I think that the use of ketamine to crack the shell on problems that can otherwise be very difficult to get the patient to open up about is groundbreaking,” he said. “It’s a revolution in psychiatric and psychologic care.” Ω

Ketamine therapy in Chico Phoenix Nest Community Project: 1459 Humboldt Rd., Ste. A, phoenixnestproject.com Norcal Ketamine Infusion Centers: 647 W. East Ave., norcalpaindocs.com

Deanna McCoy, ACA, BC-HIS

Certified Audioprosthologist by the American Conference of Audioprosthology, Board Certified Hearing Instrument Specialist, Hearing Aid Dispenser, License #HA3884

Dr. Zachary Lipman’s practice, Interventional Pain Solutions, has expanded its scope via Norcal Ketamine Infusion Centers. Deanna and her staff are focused on helping people enjoy the best hearing possible so they can enjoy life more. Their FREE Hearing Evaluations determine if hearing aids would be beneficial. Their unique Try-Before-You-Buy program allows people to wear hearing aids in their normal activities for 30 days at no cost. No cost, No commitment, No risk…just the chance to see how better hearing could improve their life. Knowing that hearing loss can lead to isolation, depression and loneliness, Deanna lives out their motto “Changing Lives Through Better Hearing” with every client . As a Certified Audioprosthologist , Deanna McCoy has completed a comprehensive course of education in hearing instrument fitting, which far surpasses the state requirement . She is active in state professional associations and continually invests in additional education for every person in her office.

Today ’s hearing aids are advanced digital devices programmed specifically for each person’s needs. Chico Hearing Aid Center carries a wide range of products and Deanna is an expert in matching the right device to each person.

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