Not just since the pandemic, but over the last decade, we have witnessed an unprecedented and alarming increase in rates of depression, anxiety and suicidal behaviors in Americans, especially among children and young adults. The COVID pandemic just made this crisis impossible to ignore. This is what the Chief of our Department, Maurizio Fava, MD, has called “a pandemic within the pandemic”.
COVID unleashed a deluge in demand for mental health treatment that is not slowing down.
The ability to deliver virtual care allowed us to respond to the acute crisis of the pandemic and ensuing shutdowns. In our department, we continue to offer virtual care; this has allowed us to expand our reach and our ability to care for many people who would not be able to be seen in person at the hospital. However, the system can only stretch so far. This summer, Mass General reported a staggering 880 people on the waitlist for psychiatric services.
Given the magnitude of the crisis, individual providers simply cannot meet the demands. In a recent commentary for WBUR’s Cognoscenti, Sarah Darghouth, PhD a psychologist in our department describes what it is like to practice under these conditions.
