Mental Health Services Scarcity

 Mental Health Services Scarcity

 

         Mental health in this country has a long way to go. The United States has long faced a significant shortage of mental health providers. More than 160 million Americans live in a mental health provider shortage area.

 

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), over half of U.S. counties have no psychiatrists despite the expanding demand for mental health services.  

 

This means that for the average American, it takes 11 years to get treatment after the onset of mental illness symptoms.

 

NAMI calls for a Take Action Policy

 

         Without an adequate workforce of mental health providers, who can work with diverse populations, people with mental illness struggle to access care in their community, facing months longs waitlists to schedule an appointment, long-distance travel to appointments, missing work or school—or fail to receive treatment altogether.

 

Let’s Help People With Mental Illness Access the Help They Need.