{"id":423,"date":"2017-01-06T15:15:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-06T20:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/med.sites.unc.edu\/cfpulmcenter\/adult-cf-program\/mental-health-social-work\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T15:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:46:08","slug":"mental-health-social-work","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/marsicolunginstitute\/adult-cf-program\/mental-health-social-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental Health\/Social Work"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!-- portlet_header --><\/p>\n<p><!-- portlet_above --><\/p>\n<p><!-- description --><\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 100%\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-6693\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/marsicolunginstitute\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/547\/2025\/05\/Amy_Nester.png\" alt=\"Headshot of Amy Nester\" width=\"104\" height=\"140\" \/><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-6694\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/marsicolunginstitute\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/547\/2025\/05\/Krista-Wendal.png\" alt=\"Headshot of Krista Wendal\" width=\"98\" height=\"140\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">Amy Nester, MSW<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">Krista Wendel, MSW, LCSW<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">(patients with last names starting with A-K)<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\">(patients with last names starting with L-Z)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\"><a href=\"mailto:Amy.Nester@unchealth.unc.edu\">Amy.Nester@unchealth.unc.edu<\/a><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%\"><a href=\"mailto:krista.wendel@unchealth.unc.edu\">krista.wendel@unchealth.unc.edu<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Health &amp; Wellness<\/h2>\n<p>UNC Cystic Fibrosis Clinic recognizes that health and wellness include the benefits of good physical, psychological, and financial health. Living with CF, however, can be challenging in all three of these important aspects of life. Knowing the resources that are available to you is a critical first step. Your Adult CF Social Worker can provide guidance as you navigate your health insurance coverage, make tough decisions about school or the next steps in your career, and can also provide expertise in identifying and treating problems with emotional challenges such as depression or anxiety.<\/p>\n<h2>Depression &amp; Anxiety<\/h2>\n<p>It is common for those living with chronic illness to experience depression or anxiety. In one study, the rates of patients living with CF and parent caregivers in the United States and Europe were 2-4 times higher than in the general population. Some may read this and think, \u201cisn\u2019t being sad or down just a normal part of being human?\u201d Yes. It is normal to experience a full range of emotions including sadness, anger, or joy. However, some emotions, like sadness, can become more than a normative response.<\/p>\n<p>Here is how to tell the difference between depression and normal blues or sadness:<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Depressed mood lasts for at least two weeks or more and for more time than not in the day<br \/>\n\u2013 It is associated with decreased interests, motivation, and enjoyment\/ For example, you don\u2019t want to do things that usually bring you pleasure;\u202fyou have been isolating.<br \/>\n\u2013 It is associated with changes in your bodily functions: sleep, appetite, energy<br \/>\n\u2013 It is associated with decreased concentration and ability to make decisions<br \/>\n\u2013 It is associated with increased thoughts about death<br \/>\n\u2013 It affects your functioning: decreases your ability to take care of yourself and your health, has a negative impact on your relationships,\u202fschool, work and\/or hobbies<\/p>\n<p>For those living with chronic illness, anxiety surrounding medical interventions is very common. For patients living with cystic fibrosis, these anxiety-producing interventions can include: PFTs, throat cultures, venipuncture, PICC line placement, NG tube insertion, manipulation with the G\/J tube, or physiotherapy\/ nebulizer treatments, just to name a few. This can add to the anxiety of coming to the clinic appointments or staying in the hospital, and for some patients might lead to avoidance of these anxiety-producing situations and thus some essential care.<\/p>\n<p>Because we know that depression and anxiety can have a direct effect on a patient\u2019s quality of life and their ability to keep up with daily treatments or doctor\u2019s appointments, the UNC staff started screening patients at both outpatient appointments and during a hospitalization. We hope that by doing this, we can have richer conversations with our patients about how CF is impacting your mood and resources available for support. We appreciate the honest dialogue that has been occurring and the trust that you put in your team when you disclose how CF is impacting the many facets of your life.<\/p>\n<p>If you recognize that your mood and\/or stress level has been impacted and are considering therapy, there are a few ways to go about finding a counselor:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>You can call the CF Center social worker to discuss further at (984)974.5128.<\/li>\n<li>If you have private insurance, you can call the Mental Health number listed on the back of your insurance card.<\/li>\n<li>If you have private insurance or Medicaid, you can browse therapist profiles on psychologytoday.com by filtering for zip code and insurance type.<\/li>\n<li>If you do not have insurance and live in North Carolina, you can call your county\u2019s LME and be scheduled for an appointment in your local area. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncdhhs.gov\/providers\/lme-mco-directory\">LME Directory<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Financial Health<\/h2>\n<p>For many people living with CF, the financial costs of care are burdensome. Whether navigating insurance plans, affording the costs of medications and treatment, or making choices related to food, housing, and transportation, affordability is a usual question on our patients\u2019 minds. There are many resources available that can assist in supplementing. This list is not exhaustive and resources do change frequently, so please discuss your specific circumstances with your social worker.<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 100%;height: 46px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 23px\">\n<td style=\"width: 50%;height: 23px\"><a class=\"Hyperlink SCXW26062092 BCX4\" href=\"http:\/\/www.uncmedicalcenter.org\/uncmc\/patients-visitors\/billing\/financial-assistance-programs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">UNC Financial Assistance Programs<\/a><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;height: 23px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cff.org\/support\/compass-online-service-request-form\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CF Foundation Compass<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 23px\">\n<td style=\"width: 50%;height: 23px;vertical-align: top\">Charity Care<br \/>\nUninsured Discount Program<\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 50%;height: 23px\">The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation\u202fCompass\u202fis a personalized service to help you with the insurance, financial, legal and other issues you are facing. There are more resources available to people that are county specific. Please discuss with your CF center social worker\u202ffor more information.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amy Nester, MSW Krista Wendel, MSW, LCSW (patients with last names starting with A-K) (patients with last names starting with L-Z) Amy.Nester@unchealth.unc.edu krista.wendel@unchealth.unc.edu &nbsp; Health &amp; Wellness UNC Cystic Fibrosis Clinic recognizes that health and wellness include the benefits of good physical, psychological, and financial health. Living with CF, however, can be challenging in all &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/marsicolunginstitute\/adult-cf-program\/mental-health-social-work\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Mental Health\/Social Work\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1362,"featured_media":0,"parent":11,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-423","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mental Health\/Social Work | Marsico Lung Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/marsicolunginstitute\/adult-cf-program\/mental-health-social-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mental Health\/Social Work | Marsico Lung Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amy Nester, MSW Krista Wendel, MSW, LCSW (patients with last names starting with A-K) (patients with last names starting with L-Z) Amy.Nester@unchealth.unc.edu krista.wendel@unchealth.unc.edu &nbsp; Health &amp; Wellness UNC Cystic Fibrosis Clinic recognizes that health and wellness include the benefits of good physical, psychological, and financial health. 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