Rural Americans have higher suicide rates and less access to mental-health professionals than those in cities, and mental-health help for rural children can be especially hard to find. Data from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reveals "62 million Americans live in rural areas with federally designated shortages of mental health providers," David Wahlberg of the Wisconsin State Journal reports. "Big cities have 6.9 child psychiatrists per 100,000 youth, while rural areas have 0.3 child psychiatrists per 100,000 youth."
"Social workers, therapists, psychologists and pediatricians try to meet rural children's mental health needs," Wahlberg writes. "But many children end up in emergency rooms, residential facilities, detention centers or state hospitals." One reason for the shortage is child psychiatrists are required to finish one additional year of training but make roughly the same salary as general psychiatrists. "In rural areas, with few colleagues for support, burnout can come quickly," Wahlberg writes, noting at least eight child psychiatrists have left northern Wisconsin in the past dozen years.
Compounding the shortage of child psychiatrists is an increasing demand for services, Dr. Hugh Johnston, a Madison child psychiatrist who heads a state committee addressing the problem, told Wahlberg. "More children are being helped by new medications for conditions such as obsessive compulsive disorder, and psychiatrists are needed to manage the drugs," Wahlberg writes. In the wake of the child-psychiatrist shortage, pediatricians and school counselors are often asked to fill in. During the wait for adequate care, the child's "behavior and emotional need become more severe," Lisa Kunelius, a psychologist at the elementary school in Minocqua, told Wahlberg. (Read more)
Wahlberg's report is part of the State Journal's on-going series "Out of reach: The rural health care gap," partially sponsored by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
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