The Therapy Crisis

By: Jackie Emans

When you’re sick, would you rather have no one know and have to go about your day in this condition, or would you rather have someone to help you feel better? You probably would want help to feel better. People with anxiety or depression go to a therapist to feel better in their minds. Mental illnesses and disorders are more common than society leads you to think, especially since the world epidemic known as Covid-19. Depression and anxiety rates have now swelled by 25%. US citizens are flocking to therapists and psychologists to help them sort through their thoughts and emotions. Even though the demand for therapy has risen sharply, the number of therapists has stayed the same. The result is a shortage of mental health help and overworking those already there. The population of America needs better access to therapy.

        Did you know that, as of 2019, a study proved that one in five American adults have a mental health condition? That is approximately 66.4 million people. And the problem is only about 40.2 million adult Americans in 2019 went to therapy. That leaves around 26.2 million people who didn’t get treatment for their illness. It could not affect the people around them, but for the person, it might be living in agony and grief.

        A woman named Angelle Haney Gullett visited numerous different therapists in Los Angeles in the wake of her father’s death in September 2021. Los Angeles is a sprawling metropolis with many therapists in business, and all of the therapists she researched either had a wait list or were not accepting new clients. Angelle couldn’t find a therapist, and six months later, she watched through tears her father’s favorite football team, the Cincinnati Bengals, in the 2022 Super Bowl. The mental health help she needed wasn’t available when she needed it, and the grief affected her life immensely. 

        A big part of the mental health crisis is the insurance companies that people are relying on to help them pay for therapy aren’t compatible with the therapists themselves. Michael Klein, a psychologist in San Francisco who has been operating for over 20 years, doesn’t take insurance rates. He says, “The reimbursement rates don't provide a living wage. You can't own a home and drive a car and survive on what in-network providers pay you." He also stated that insurance takes a lot of paperwork. “For an hour of psychotherapy, you spend a half-hour on paperwork!” That might not seem so bad on a small scale, but after three hours of sessions, he would have to do an hour and a half of paperwork.

        In the opposite situation, Jonathan Horowitz, also in San Francisco, wants to accept insurance, but the insurance companies refuse Jonathan’s offers outright. They claim that there is no demand for therapists. April Dembosky from npr.org sums it up quite neatly: “So even though a patient might call seven therapists in her insurance network and not be able to get an appointment, insurance companies are telling new and willing therapists that there's no demand for them." This situation is absurd because there is a massive demand, and insurance companies choose to ignore it.

        Mental Health is a colossal issue in the US. In a study by The Commonwealth Fund, out of the other countries surveyed, the US has the fourth-lowest workforce for mental needs (therapists, psychologists, etc.). Insurance Companies and the US government must take their clients’ and citizens’ mental health more seriously. A fifth of the population has a mental illness. If they can’t afford therapy, it might affect the people around them, and whether it is extreme or not, it is still an effect that could derail society if someone takes it far enough. Stop this madness for people who, like you, when sick, want to feel better.