- Forty percent of students with a diagnosable mental health illness do not seek help
- Fifty percent of students have been so anxious they struggled in school
- Sixty-four percent of students who have left university have done so due to a mental health related reason
- Nearly 55 percent of practicing psychiatrists are 55 years or older
At the heart of this distressing need for mental health services on campus is the psychiatric provider shortage that exists in the United States. In 2013, about 70 percent of all active psychiatrists were 50 years older, bringing almost three-quarters of our nation’s psychiatrists within 15 years of retirement. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, an estimated 2,600 more psychiatrists are needed to eliminate 3,900 federally designated mental health professional shortage areas. The Need With more students than at any other time in history attending college and receiving graduate degrees, the race to perfection as a modicum of success has coincided with the highest levels of stress and psychopathology than at any other time. Students who lack the appropriate tools to cope with their mental health conditions are in serious danger of experiencing more severe mental health crises. Young adults are seeing increased levels of depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide. Almost 10 percent of college freshmen state they frequently feel depressed, according to the University of California, Los Angeles’s Higher Education Research Institute survey of first year students. One of the most dangerous possible side effects of depression is suicide. According to the American College Health Association (ACHA), the suicide rate among young adults has tripled since the 1950s, and is the second leading cause of death among university students today. That study also found 9.4 percent of students reported seriously considering suicide at least once in a 12 month period; a marked increase from several decades ago. Without appropriate care, students living with mental health issues are more likely to have lower GPAs, leave university, or end up being unemployed. Ensuring that on campus mental healthcare clinics are appropriately staffed is now more important than ever. The Demand Over half of college counseling centers report that operating budgets have steadily risen since 2009; however, many schools “fall short of recommendations regarding the number of mental-health professionals they should have for the size of their student populations – and about one-third don’t have a psychiatrist on campus at all.” Even with the social stigma attached with mental illnesses, the demand for services “so outpaces the supply of appointments that it’s very hard to get a weekly appointment, even for students having pretty serious symptoms that interfere with their academic function,” according to Elizabeth Gong-Guy, executive director of counseling and psychological services at UCLA and president of the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors. The University of Delaware is a prime example of the demand for mental health professionals on campus significantly outstripping the supply. “More and more students are coming in that are beyond the scope of our services,” said Charles Beale, director of the University of Delaware’s center for counseling and student development. With a campus population of approximately 22,000 students, 9 percent visit the counseling center each year receiving services from the equivalent of “1.75 full-time psychiatrists, four interns, three post docs, and 15 psychologists.” Mr. Beale states, however, that he “could probably hire four new psychologists and they’d all have a full case load in six months.” To meet this ever growing demand on the other side of the coast, Regents at the University of California are considering staffing 70 additional psychologists and 20 more psychiatrists across its collection of ten campuses. The implementation of such a plan could cost $17.4 million per year. Meeting the need Most mental illnesses can be successfully managed with appropriate treatment, but barriers to such treatment exist. These barriers include a shortage of mental health professionals, significant cost, and the social stigma that surrounds seeking help for mental illness. Reimagining the way in which we address and treat mental health care would go a long way towards meeting the gap in care seen on campuses today. Telepsych is one of the best ways to reach patients in underserved areas; including on college campuses. Universities attempting to broaden their mental health services while maintaining quality of care could utilize telemedicine technology, such as Barton Telehealth, to connect students with offsite mental health professionals via a secure video link. High-speed internet connections and high-definition webcams allow psychiatrists to see patients clearly and communicate in real-time so they can pick up on subtle nonverbal cues for accurate diagnoses. Telepsych encompasses an array of services typically received during in person appointments, including diagnosis and assessment, medication management, and individual and group therapy. It also provides a forum for psychiatrists, primary care providers, and other healthcare providers to consult; a trademark particularly advantageous to university students whose primary care physicians and psychiatrists might be thousands of miles away. The American Telemedicine Association notes that psychiatry is particularly suited to the telehealth field, as “patients can be reliably assessed, diagnosed, and treated with pharmacology and psychotherapy in outpatient clinics with a variety of videoconferencing equipment and communications protocols.” University students are also comfortable using technology, including Skype and FaceTime, making the transition to telepsych services an easy one. The University of Florida recently launched a telepsych program that has had great success, focusing on student mental health in their Counseling and Wellness Center. “In our first study, the students rated the acceptability of telepsychiatry high compared to group therapy,” Travers said. “In fact, many preferred it to face-to-face meetings,” stated Michele Fallon Travers, MD, chief of telepsychiatry at University of Florida (UF) Health in Gainesville By addressing societal, financial, and geographical barriers to mental health care, psychiatric telemedicine platforms, such as Barton Telehealth, will improve access, adherence, and continuity of care in the mental health field, and can help meet the growing demand for care at universities across the nation.
