COVID-19 is taking a heavy toll in America’s mental health-care deserts

COVID-19 is taking a heavy toll in America’s mental health-care deserts
Posted on Dec 30 2020
National Geographic

Although the pandemic boosted virtual telemedicine and efforts to normalize the conversation around seeking help for mental health concerns, this progress has not addressed the root crisis: There aren’t enough mental health-care workers to treat everyone in need. That scarcity isn’t something the nation can solve overnight. “It takes eight years to make a social worker,” says Ken Duckworth, CMO for NAMI. Practitioners ranging from rural clinics to larger nonprofits like the National Alliance on Mental Illness had to up their services. “Isolation is hard on people,” Duckworth says. “Uncertainty is hard on people. Winter can be hard on people. People are in distress, and they’re having clinically significant experiences.” “It has become much more ordinary to seek help for mental health,” Duckworth says. “Going forward, people with mental health concerns may not be considered the other.” The National Alliance on Mental Illness’s helpline has seen an increase in calls. At the onset of the pandemic, the number of people phoning them tripled. This volume has waxed and waned with outbreaks and other tumultuous events this year, such as the presidential election, the continued perpetuation of violent white nationalism, and the social movements toward equality. NAMI has recruited additional volunteers to handle the uptick. Teletherapy and phone sessions have closed the distance between providers and their rural patients, but this new connectivity is far from a cure-all, Duckworth says.