Title: Inside America's Psychiatrist Shortage (Special Report)
Headings: Inside America’s Psychiatrist Shortage
Inside America’s Psychiatrist Shortage
An in-depth look at why it’s happening, how bad it is, where it’s worst, and how to find the mental health help you need, despite it
Part 1
The Lack of Psychiatrists: Just One Barrier to Treatment
The Silent Shortage
Mental Health Fall-Out
Finding Help When You Can’t Find a Psychiatrist
Part 2
Can’t Find a Psychiatrist? How About an Advanced Practice Nurse, Physician Assistant or Prescribing Psychologist?
Can They Do What Psychiatrists Can Do?
Is Care Compromised When You Don’t See a Doctor?
Knocking Down Barriers
What Advanced Practice Nurses Can Do for You
What Psychiatric Physician Assistants Can Do for You
What Prescribing Psychologists Can Do for You
Part 3
The Psychiatrist Will See You Now—Virtually
The Health Insurance Gap
How Good Is It?
References:

Content: And it’s simply difficult getting a good diagnosis and treatment plan, especially for “vulnerable populations such as foster children and older adults,” according to the 2017 National Council for Behavioral Health report “The Psychiatric Shortage: Causes and Solutions.” [ 7]
Finding Help When You Can’t Find a Psychiatrist
It’s not easy, but these steps can help you or a loved one get mental-health help when you need it: Talk to your primary care provider. Your family doctor may be able to refer you to a psychiatrist with whom she has a professional relationship or who she trusts. She may also be aware of other resources, like mental health clinics, group practices that also employ advanced practice nurses or physician assistants with a psychiatry specialty or community health centers. Your primary care provider may also feel comfortable prescribing and monitoring some medications for mental health issues and be able to refer you for other services you’ll need, such as therapy. Some doctors even participate in a new type of mental-health care called collaborative care, where they partner with a psychiatrist or a nurse practitioner or physician assistant to provide care in the family doctor’s office. “We know there’s a shortage of mental health professionals in America, so if you live in a community where there simply isn’t a psychiatrist, or you’d have to drive a great distance to see one, or there’s an incredible waitlist for the one or two that are in town, your primary care doctor is a good option,” says Christine Allen, a spokesperson for NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “ As part of their training, all doctors have to become familiar with mental health conditions.