There is a shortage of psychiatrists in
most of the hospitals serving American vets in much of the country's
VA hospitals. According to information released by the Department of
Veterans Affairs in Montana veterans wait an average of five
weeks to begin counseling. Experts report that the effects of war
show an increase of Post Traumatic Syndrome since 2000.
The VA has at least a 20% shortage of
psychiatrists in hospital in the Northwest, Southern states and
California.
It is difficult to attract
psychiatrists to rural areas and states in which the cost of living
is high is a problem which persists even in private hospitals. The
VA relies on psychiatric nurses or physician assistants in VA
hospitals. Veterans who start therapy at nearly a third of VA
hospitals wait longer 14 days to receive treatment by psychiatrists.
Some of the longest wait times for one-on-one psychiatric can be on
an average 37 days such as in some hospitals in Alabama and parts of
Florida.
There
is a national shortage of psychiatrists fewer medical school students
have applied for psychiatry residencies and the majority of
practicing psychiatrists are 55 or older. In
psychiatry nearly 55% are in this age bracket, making it the second
oldest group of physicians. The low rate of medical school graduates
choosing psychiatry is
partly to blame for this fact.
There is a need for ways to attract
young medical students to the field of psychiatry to meet patients’
mental health needs. Patients are relying on their primary care
doctors for treatment of disorders b est treated by a professional in
the field; these doctors are not adequately trained for treating
disorders of the mind.
With the number of people with mental
disorders seeking treatment and others who are mandated by the courts
the need for specialists in the diagnosis and treatment of these
disorders has become critical. It is virtually impossible to predict
when or who a mental illness will strike critical care occurs and
often the only resort family or law enforcement persons has is a trip
to the local emergency room and/or hospitalization. Often the person
ends up in a homeless shelter or jail. With the dire need for
treatment many patients are being misdiagnosed or medicated
incorrectly due to the shortage of trained personnel.
Everyone has the right to prompt and
adequate care without psychiatrists the gaps in relieving the
symptoms of a major mental disorder is being denied to everyone in need and on the whole
society pays.
