Laurie Monnes Anderson, Dave Nelson, Tina Kotek and Bill Kennemer, March 5, 2010
Oregon faces a deepening crisis in delivering mental health care to its citizens.
People suffering from a mental illness are likely to die 25 to 35 years earlier than the general population. Rural communities struggle to find enough primary care providers, let alone qualified mental health care providers. Our state hospital is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for inadequate treatment and care for the most acute patients suffering with a mental illness.
This crisis is driven in part by a lack of psychiatrists and of physicians adequately trained in diagnosing and treating mental health disorders. It is estimated that 80 to 90 percent of mental health medications prescribed are prescribed by primary-care providers, who have no specialized training in psychopharmacology. Our community mental health systems and, shamefully, our jails are seeing everyday people who struggle to find qualified mental health providers.
