Mental health issues are increasingly being managed through therapy rather than medication among American citizens.
Hear the Buzz:
The gist is out, and it's sounding jolly good! A recent study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry is singing a new tune - Americans are talking more about their mental health issues than ever before. NPR's Rhitu Chatterjee reports this thrilling news, stating that for the first time in freaking decades, talk therapy has climbed to the top of the mental health treatment game, edging out the pharmaceutical giants.
The Talk Therapy Revolution:
For years, it's been a downward spiral for talk therapy, but things changed between 2018 and 2021. The number of American adults participating in outpatient talk therapy surged from 6.5% to 8.5% - translating to a whooping 5.5 million folks hopping on the couch! (Pssst, Dr. Mark Olfson from Columbia University helped crack the code on this one.)
Despite this exciting explosion, the majority of those seeking talk therapy still hold hands with their medication pals. But guess what? Fewer folks than ever are relying on prescription pills alone. The new aforementioned study flips the script on the dominance of medications that's reigned since the late 1980s when Prozac and other bros introduced themselves to the mental health scene.
The Power of the Pair:
Here's the kicker - more people are coming together and embracing both medicines and talk therapy. And let's not forget about dropouts. Historically, they've given talk therapy a hard pass after one session, but it seems that folks are sticking around these days.
So, WTF is Going On?
Dr. Jessi Gold, the chief wellness officer at the University of Tennessee, gives us a few reasons for the boom in therapy sessions. More people are realizing that they have issues they need to discuss, mental health seeks are being normalized, and easier access to therapy via telehealth since the pandemic.
Speaking of the pandemic, while only about half of Americans with any mental illness received treatment in the latest survey, it's reasonable to assume that the pandemic introduced a lot of folks to the wonders of therapy.
Additional insights: Factors contributing to this increase include a shift in who provides psychotherapy (increased referrals from psychiatrists to non-physician psychotherapists like social workers and counselors), changes in Medicare reimbursement policies, growing awareness, cost-effectiveness, and societal acceptance of mental health care and therapy. Economic pressures, healthcare policy changes, and reducing stigma also may play a role in the increase
- In the realm of health-and-wellness, a surge of interest in mental health issues has been reported, with more Americans discussing their mental health problems than before, as revealed in a study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
- Recently, there has been a significant shift in preference towards therapies-and-treatments, with talk therapy becoming more popular than medications for the first time in decades, according to a study and NPR's Rhitu Chatterjee.
