Our Mental Health Crisis and Tech’s Role In It

Mental health has always had a challenging place in healthcare.  First, it has suffered from an extreme amount of stigma (and still does) that has caused many people to avoid getting the mental health care they need.  Second, (and possibly because of the stigma) we don’t have nearly enough mental health providers out there to service everyone that needs help.  Plus, the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns have driven almost all of us to question our mental health state at some point in the last year.  While many of these COVID related mental health problems don’t rise to the point that they need professional help, many do.

It’s not hard to see where this is headed.  Lots of people with mental health issues and not enough mental health providers to care for those in need.  I know the value of professional mental health on a number of levels.  When I first started working in healthcare I worked at a health and counseling center that tried to treat the patient across health and mental health.  The team did a phenomenal job taking care of every aspect of a person’s wellness.  While I saw the impact of this type of coordinated effort, I also saw that it was time consuming work to do it effectively.