In some parts of rural America, the shortage of mental health professionals has reached crisis level. Yet many states still refuse to support mental health through tax dollars. Experts say America today needs more than 30,000 child and adolescent psychiatrists. Yet the country has fewer than a third of that number, And the need is rising, reports The Rural Blog.
Now some mental health advocates are turning to long distance therapy to ease the burden on psychiatrists in rural areas. This new “teletherapy” involves a session conducted remotely via digital technology.
“Telepsychiatry has emerged as a practical approach to reaching more young people,” Emma Ockerman recently noted for Time magazine. But, she added, “Some advocates disagree on whether appointments . . . are as effective as those carried out in-person.”
