1. All community members benefit from efforts to keep life in Portland low-stress and anxiety-free.

• Respondents note that stress, anxiety, fear and anger all contribute negatively to people’s mental health.
• Many people mentioned that they valued Portland’s easy going positive attitude and that it is a low-stress city compared to other places they may have lived (see Urban Livability: The People for more).
• Factors that keep life in Portland relatively low-stress include:
  • Being able to get around town easily using multiple modes of transit (including cycling, walking, running and public transit);
  • Community members who keep the focus on quality of life, family time, and friends rather than focusing exclusively on their jobs;
  • Access to the outdoors and beautiful natural surroundings, which bring balance into the urban atmosphere; and
  • The abundance of community spaces and events that bring people together, including farmers markets, open-air concerts and community-based educational opportunities.
• In addition, Portland’s strong sense of community can decrease feelings of isolation that can lead to depression and anxiety (see Urban Livability: Sense of Community).
• Some Portlanders are worried that life in the city is becoming increasingly stressful as the population continues to grow. Factors that contribute to stress levels include:
  • Worsening traffic on major roads (See Transportation: Traffic);
  • The deteriorating quality of the city’s public schools;
  • The loss of affordable housing and appreciating housing prices;
  • The presence of so many panhandlers and “street people” downtown, which stresses shoppers, business owners, and others who pass through downtown;
  • The challenges some face to finding living-wage jobs with benefits;
  • And the growing income disparities in Portland.

2. Mental healthcare, like physical healthcare, should be accessible to all.

• Portlanders understand that mental health is a critical component of overall health and well-being.
• Portlanders also understand the connection between good mental health and the ability to seek employment and find and keep housing.
• Respondents value that Portlanders seem to care about the mental health and well-being of all community members. People find this sense of compassion comforting and hope to see it maintained in the future.
• In the future, Portlanders want to see mental healthcare needs met, regardless of a person’s ability to pay, to ensure all Portlanders receive the care they need to enjoy a high quality of life.
• In particular, respondents would like to see counseling and medication supplied free of charge to members of our community who are in need of such treatments.

Sample Strategies:

1. “Reform schools and mental health institutions so that they cultivate the beauty and creativity of youth -- not stamp it down.”
2. “Create an organization that gathers all service providers for mental health and homelessness under one banner so that we aren’t all stepping on each other’s toes and confusing clients. Realize that food, clothing and housing alone do not make a healthy citizen.”

3. Insufficient services exist for people with mental illness.

• Many Portlanders believe that people with mental health issues are not receiving the level of service or the type of services they need to overcome their challenges.
• Many effective treatment options are not covered by health insurers or not readily available to people with low incomes.
• Respondents would like to see a re-opening of the area’s drop-in centers and public funding for a wider range of treatment options.

Sample Strategies:

1. "Comply with the Multnomah County Mental Health Plan composed under the auspices of Bev Stein's committee, which was composed of citizens, mental health consumers, advocates for adults and children, and mental health professionals.”
2. Hold public mental health and developmental disability services (Multnomah County) accountable for outreach and risk management.
3. “Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) and similar progressive programs for outreach to seriously mentally ill (coming here after years in the East and the Midwest, I was shocked that mental health services here don't make use of ACT.)”
4. “My suggestion is that the City of Portland and Multnomah County Mental Health work closely with Marylhurst Dept. of Art Therapy to move toward public funding for funding for their graduates. Another advantage for this is that local art therapy graduates would find local jobs in their fields. The way things are now for instance is like what Kaiser Permanente told me ‘even if we hired an art therapist we would not allow them to practice that type of therapy.’”

4. Issues of mental health and homelessness are closely linked together.

• Portlanders frequently state the connection between the city’s homelessness problem and our inability to provide people with adequate mental health services.
• Respondents believe that many people who are homeless have untreated mental illnesses, which cause them to lose their housing and/or prevent them from finding housing.
• Respondents also believe that many people without homes were previously institutionalized but have been released from residential programs without a plan for how they will become self-sufficient.
• While Portlanders are generally intolerant of pan-handlers, they express compassion towards homeless people that are dealing with mental health issues, stating that they should be able to receive the treatment and services they need.
• In particular, Portlanders would like homeless people suffering from mental health issues to have free access to:
  • Safe shelters and/or temporary housing so they don’t have to sleep on the streets;
  • Medication, therapy and other needed mental health services; and
  • Job training and housing assistance to break the cycle of homelessness.
• Portlanders envision a future in which nobody experiencing mental illness has to live on the streets for lack of housing, a job or the treatment they need.

Sample Strategies:

1. “Single occupancy residential buildings are very successful in other cities and allow homeless people some dignity. They then have a mail address, a place for social service agencies to find them, a start on getting more stability in their lives. Since many of the homeless are fall outs from closed mental health facilities or in need of mental health services, it is crucial to provide a stabilizing force in their life so that they can deal with medication and other health issues.”

5. Police need training in how to deal with individuals suffering from mental illness.

• Many Portlanders believe that the Portland Police Bureau does not properly train officers in how to deal with mental illness.
• Respondents express outrage at instances of people with mental illnesses being shot and killed by officers who clearly did not know how to work effectively with this population.

Sample Strategies:

1. Expand the training and preparation of the police for dealing with mental illness and educate them on crisis management. (See Public Safety: Policing.)
2. "Work on creating agency or institution to deal with mentally ill people instead of forcing the police to handle a social issue. Free them up to work with crimes."
3. “Better training for police for people who are out of control or have mental illnesses. Perhaps a virtual reality training session to inform police about schizophrenia, paranoia, drug experiences, where the suspects mind is experiencing a different reality.”