As a result, forward-thinking people built a public health infrastructure from scratch — one which we still see the critical value of today.
More than a hundred years later, in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic, we face the consequences of another inadequate and inaccessible system: mental health care. The psychological pressures that Covid-19 has brought — isolation and physical distancing, fast-rising unemployment and economic loss — have triggered what amounts to a secondary pandemic for millions of Americans. We need a mental health care overhaul.
Help can't come soon enough. According to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, in April of this year, about three times as many adults reported psychological distress as in 2018. That same month, texts to the federal government's Disaster Distress Helpline increased by almost 1,000%.
As the pandemic has continued, parents, especially mothers, have reported feelings of grief, fear and loneliness as they balance schooling their children and maintaining full-time jobs. Furthermore, reports of domestic violence and abuse are increasing around the world.
The killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and so many others have increased anxiety and depression among the Black community, compounding the experience of trauma and psychological violence caused by systemic racism.
We must address this massive crisis in mental health. However, to make meaningful changes, we first need to examine the failure of our current system.
Historically, society has denigrated mental health, perhaps because the condition of the mind seems less "real" or measurable by established standards. This notion largely segregated mental health from the medical system, undermining our investment in mental health treatment and caregiving to this day.
Although nearly one in four American adults experience a mental health condition each year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, fewer than half get the care they need, per Mental Health America.
One reason is that there are not enough providers. In the United States, there were only 34 psychologists for every 100,000 people, according to the American Psychological Association in 2012. There are even fewer psychiatrists -- mental health specialists who prescribe medication; just 13 for every 100,000 people in the US, as of 2018.
For those seeking care, finding the right treatment can feel harrowing. All too often, people with insurance are given a 1-800 number on the back of a card to find mental health care services only to get the runaround.
Stale provider lists often include "ghost networks," suggesting providers that don't, in fact, take insurance, have retired, or even have died -- which confuses and discourages patients from pursuing resources.
One study found that as of 2017 patients were over five times more likely to need to go out of network to receive mental health care, than physical health care. It's not hard to imagine the tremendous impact this has on patients' abilit
