The United States grapples with a severe shortage of mental health professionals, with over 160 million Americans residing in areas lacking adequate mental health care access. The deficit is even more pronounced when it comes to providers specializing in child and adolescent mental health.
Dr. Rachel Petersen-Nguyen, a pediatrician at Children’s Minnesota in St. Paul, Minnesota, has proposed a potential solution to this crisis, one that begins with medical practitioners like herself.
“Every day that I see kids, we’re helping with mental health concerns,” she affirmed.
She noted that the situation became especially dire during the pandemic’s lockdown phase. “I was seeing kids more than once a day with suicidal ideation. I was seeing younger kids than I’d ever seen with suicidal ideation,” Petersen-Nguyen shared.
However, this predicament persists for families to this day. According to last year’s state student survey, nearly one-third of Minnesota students grapple with long-term mental health challenges.
“I would love to be able to refer all of the patients to a psychologist or a psychiatrist, and it’s not possible. If I refer them, they are sometimes waiting two months, six months, or two years to see someone,” she explained.
In an effort to mitigate the profound shortage of mental health providers, Dr. Petersen-Nguyen believes that pediatricians can take on the role of diagnosing and treating common conditions such as ADHD, anxiety, and depression directly within their offices, without necessitating external referrals. She collaborates with The REACH Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to training healthcare providers and hospital systems.
Although mental health was not a prominent component of primary care training a decade or two ago, she believes it is never too late to usher in change.
“When we can feel confident in that diagnosis and initiate treatment, we often provide children and families with prompt assistance. This, in turn, frees up time and resources for mental health specialists to focus on more complex cases,” she explained.
State data reveals that a staggering 80% of Minnesota’s counties are classified as experiencing a mental health professional shortage.
