CNN/AP: Shortage of child psychiatrists takes nationwide toll

[DeepModem Mom]

Shortage of child psychiatrists takes nationwide toll
Friday, April 7, 2006

NEW YORK (AP) -- In state after state, bleak statistics and grim anecdotes lead to the same diagnosis: America suffers from a serious, long-term shortage of child psychiatrists that is taking a toll on young people, their parents and their doctors.

Wyoming is down to two child psychiatrists; another left last year. In Augusta, Georgia, Dr. Sarah Sexton tells would-be new patients she might be able to see them in July. Elsewhere, doctors take no new patients at all.

"There is no state where it is not a problem -- none," said Dr. Gregory Fritz, director of child psychiatry at Brown Medical School in Providence, Rhode Island. "We see it in the emergency ward every night, where problems have gotten out of hand over time due to lack of intervention, and progress to a point where a kid is suicidal or dangerous."

The shortage has been noticed within the profession for years, but psychiatrists say the consequences are worsening as the stigma of mental health problems recedes and more families seek help for their children, including prescriptions for psychiatric drugs.

Demand for such drugs is intense, and the shortage of psychiatrists "forces kids to see other practitioners for medication management who might not have the training or experience to appropriately treat them," the National Conference of State Legislatures warned in a report last month....

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/04/07/child.psychiatrists.ap/index.html

[low_phreaq]

1. This administration's culture of fear is not helping either! n/t

[bdamomma]

2. all the more reason

to get this administration out, our kids will be paying, paying big time for bush's mistakes.

[undergroundpanther]

5. Could it be on some level the kids KNOW

They will be paying for the sins,social irresponsibility and passive bystanding of thier parents and the stress of it all is breaking them?
I sure wouldn't want to be a kid now.
So I understand thier dispair.

[undergroundpanther]

3. This administrations

cuts on health care and corporate cronyism at the expense of reinforcing the responsibilities companies had to workers is not helping,someone needs to help the workers and poor get fair wages and benefits. Also trauma causes alot of harm,from abuse at home, to bullies in school,rape and crime this bully problem with our culture NEEDS to be addressed.As does inequality,religious exploitation,and the lack of compassion for victims.

[NMMNG]

4. And people wonder why children are not getting appropriate treatment

for psychiatric disorders. This is a national crisis.

[undergroundpanther]

7. Yes.

And there are alot of factors causing the crisis and part of it is cultural. We tolerate exploiters,bullies and the wealthy shred the social safety net for everyone else. As a culture we blame victims and hate those who cannot cope well as ourselves.America is a hypocrite,in Denial that "Independence" is not so independent as it appears,and this dog eat dog ,winner takes all,conform or die,obey the boss or become the boss or shut up mentality is culturally crazy-making.

[lovuian]

6. if we had Universal health we wouldn't have this problem

Its only going to get worse...

[politicat]

8. And the psychologists are over-worked...

So a lot of us are leaving the field, too.

Public mental health workers in Colorado saw their case loads quadruple between 1998 and 2004, due to a hiring freeze, the downturn in the economy and population growth in the under 18 sector if the population. Courts also began mandating counseling for all children in divorces, and for certain juvenile offenses, and if you can't afford private care or are already on Medicaid or CHIP, you end up going to the public MHCCs.

When I still worked for the state, the staff psychiatrist did pretty much nothing but write scrips and review files all day long. She almost never saw a client, and relied pretty much on the psychologists and social workers to make the meds recommendations. There wasn't much of a choice in the matter.

We'd had a second psychiatrist's job opening for almost two years when I left in 2002. We couldn't fill it, and unlike other programs, it's nearly impossible to go to medical school on the Night School program, so we couldn't even promote from within.

[DeepModem Mom]

9. Thanks for reporting your experience, politicat. nt