Behavioral&nbsp;health&nbsp;has always been as important as physical&nbsp;health,&nbsp;and&nbsp;the COVID-19 pandemic&nbsp;brought&nbsp;it&nbsp;out of the shadows and into the spotlight.

The tight relationship between&nbsp;behavioral&nbsp;and physical health&nbsp;has never been&nbsp;as&nbsp;evident&nbsp;as&nbsp;during the&nbsp;past 18 months&nbsp;of&nbsp;the pandemic. We have collectively experienced the toll that social distancing, isolation, loss, and major&nbsp;changes in routine (work from home, kids learning at home, having to stay at home) have&nbsp;taken.&nbsp;And the prevalence of anxiety and depression&nbsp;and substance use&nbsp;has&nbsp;spiked&nbsp;as a result.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Behavioral Health is an umbrella term for mental health and substance use disorders and includes the treatment of diagnosed conditions.&nbsp;As of February 2021, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7013e2.htm" rel="noreferrer noopener">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>&nbsp;reported that 41.5%&nbsp;of American adults have symptoms of an anxiety or depressive disorder &mdash; more than double 2019 numbers. Deaths due to drug overdose, per provisional data from&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2021/20210714.htm" rel="noreferrer noopener">National Center for Health Statistics</a>,&nbsp;increased during the pandemic, hitting an all-time high of 93,331&nbsp;up&nbsp;29.4% from the 72,151 deaths&nbsp;preliminary reported in&nbsp;2019.&nbsp;
With&nbsp;the&nbsp;behavioral&nbsp;health impacts of COVID-19 remaining&nbsp;elevated as we navigate the&nbsp;Delta variant,&nbsp;behavioral&nbsp;healthcare&nbsp;is key for&nbsp;anyone who struggles with daily life stressors.&nbsp;It&nbsp;is most powerful when considered a beacon of light to illuminate the path rather than a dark shadow to be avoided.&nbsp;
We&rsquo;ve all been through a lot and taking care of our emotional needs has never been more important.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Talking about mental health is one of the ways we remove the shroud of stigma, so that people feel safe asking for help when they need it.&nbsp;Each of us can add our voice to those in the public eye &mdash; Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, and others who are shining a light on the importance of prioritizing behavioral health.&nbsp;Asking for help and support before any potentially serious impacts of depression or anxiety take&nbsp;a toll is an even better idea.&nbsp;&nbsp;Changing the conversation about behavioral health is another vital way we build resiliency and improve lives.&nbsp;
Collaborating with others across Arizona,&nbsp;BCBSAZ will continue to bring behavioral health, both wellness and resilience, and condition treatment into the spotlight. We&nbsp;have the opportunity to&nbsp;inspire holistic health by endorsing the mind-body connection and by creating new connections to care.&nbsp;
When we&rsquo;re not&nbsp;ok, it&rsquo;s vital that resources are available&nbsp;
According to&nbsp;<a href="https://crh.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/publications/20201117_AZ_BH_Workforce_FINAL.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener">the Arizona Behavioral Health Workforce</a>,&nbsp;40%&nbsp;of Arizonans live in a mental&nbsp;healthcare&nbsp;professional shortage&nbsp;zip code.&nbsp;
At&nbsp;Blue Cross&reg;&nbsp;Blue Shield&reg;&nbsp;of Arizona (BCBSAZ),&nbsp;we are working on multiple fronts to&nbsp;make the connection to behavioral health care easier for members&nbsp;of our health plans and for all Arizonans, and to ensure adequate resources are available.&nbsp;
Through our collaboration with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.quartethealth.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Quartet Health</a>, for example, we are pairing&nbsp;health plan&nbsp;members&nbsp;in Maricopa County&nbsp;with providers that match their preferences and treatment needs.&nbsp;Quartet&rsquo;s&nbsp;platform will make it easier for patients to quickly connect with mental health care services, including a therapist or psychiatrist.&nbsp;&nbsp;
BCBSAZ has a strong commitment to supporting the health care needs of the larger Arizona community.&nbsp;To help make resources more available,&nbsp;we are&nbsp;proud to work with community organizations,&nbsp;including&nbsp;Childhelp, A New Leaf,&nbsp;and Child Crisis Arizona,&nbsp;through&nbsp;our&nbsp;Mobilize AZ&nbsp;initiative&mdash;&nbsp;a&nbsp;public health initiative&nbsp;through which&nbsp;we are&nbsp;working to address Arizona&rsquo;s most critical health issues,&nbsp;including substance use disorder and mental health.&nbsp;&nbsp;
We partner with local&nbsp;organizations that know intimately the needs of those they serve&nbsp;and are working to&nbsp;expand access, build capacity, and strengthen resources for prevention, treatment, resiliency,&nbsp;and recovery.&nbsp;Illustrative of this approach are the grants&nbsp;BCBSAZ&nbsp;provided at&nbsp;the height of the pandemic&rsquo;s first wave to organizations working to protect children from stress and trauma related to COVID-19; intervening early to reduce long-term physical and behavioral health impacts.&nbsp;
We invite you to join us, as we&nbsp;break down the stigma and raise awareness that mental health is just as important as physical health.&nbsp;We hope that,&nbsp;together,&nbsp;providers, insurance carriers, community leaders, and&nbsp;all Arizonans&nbsp;continue to&nbsp;make behavioral health&nbsp;an ongoing&nbsp;conversation&nbsp;so&nbsp;more Arizonans get the help&nbsp;they need.&nbsp;
Dr. Sandra Zebrowski is Corporate Medical Director, Behavioral Health at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona.&nbsp;

The Mind-Body Connection: Bringing Behavioral Health into the Spotlight