The percentage of Americans seeking mental health treatment nearly doubled between 2004 and 2022 , with almost a quarter of the population reporting that they saw a mental health care professional in 2022. This surge in help-seeking has many potential explanations. The pandemic , along with other external stressors , led to unprecedented high rates of anxiety and depression across all age groups .
Yet the majority of Americans with a mental health condition are not receiving adequate treatment or any treatment at all . People who are pondering getting help face a lot of decisions with little information about how to navigate the system available to them. As a licensed clinical psychologist and director of clinical training for a clinical psychology program at the University of Montana in Missoula, I spend a lot of time thinking about how to increase folks’ access to treatment.
I also field a lot of practical questions that people have about the process. It’s a difficult landscape to navigate, particularly when there is a nationwide shortage of mental health care providers . Mental health conditions – technically diagnoses or disorders – are defined by either feeling distress or experiencing impairment in one or more areas of your life.
If you seek out mental health treatment, a diagnosis is often required for you to receive services. You should seek out professional advice as a first step. Clinicians make diagnostic determinations based on the Diagnostic and Statistic.
