Shortage of rural mental-health professionals noted as Mental Health Awareness month ends

At the close of National Mental Health Awareness Month, the Nebraska-based Center for Rural Affairs has released a report titled "Mental Health: Overlooked and Disregarded in Rural America." The study supports the shortage of physical and mental health professional in rural areas. Carolyn Lee writes for the Imperial Republican that "over half of the counties in the United States have no mental health professionals, a situation that has changed little in 45 years."

In Nebraska in 1972, a federal law was passed that guaranteed everyone access to mental health services, but the vast majority of states still lack such measures. Kim Preston, one of the authors of the report, told Farm Futures that rural Americans remain undeserved in terms of mental health care providers and health insurance coverage despite the fact rural Americans suffer just as much from mental illness.