More specialists needed to combat mental illness

Americans live busy lives from working long hours to pay the next rent to parenting a newborn to getting a college degree. Having an overloaded schedule, however, can often be a heavy burden for many to handle on a daily basis. This happens to show that over 40 million people happen to have mental issues. The awareness for mental illnesses may have increased over the years, yet there is a high demand for psychiatrists specialized in the field of mental health. Hence, the amount of licensed psychiatrists must be expanded. About 111 million people are living in mental health shortage areas and 2 out of 3 physicians reported having difficulty referring their patients to a trusted psychiatrist. This happens to support the fact that the amount of psychiatrists in more than half the number of counties in the United States is zero. The younger generations happen to experience more distress than the late generations due to a variety of factors such as technology, a larger number of career choices, emphasis on education, etc. Distress can lead to such mental problems such as depression and anxiety which are the top leading mental conflicts among teens. Engaging young students into the psychiatric field is helpful, but mental health awareness must be persistent.

• Mayra Rodriguez
• Posted on September 20, 2018
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