Lack of Mental Health Resources in Rural Areas

Throughout this course and reading the course material like Bessel van der Kol’s book The Body Keeps the Score, it is clear that a great deal of time and resources have been put into mental health treatment and the advocacy for it. While this is phenomenal and quite beneficial for people who need it, the only people who can benefit from it are those who have access to services and the various treatments that have been developed. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to find appropriate mental health services, particularly in certain areas of the country.  Many people in rural areas will have a more difficult time receiving mental health treatment than their counterparts in urban or suburban areas because of a lack of money, lack of transportation, or limited availability of services. 

In areas where people have to drive an hour, or more, to get to the grocery store, a doctor’s office, or school, it is very hard to find and utilize specialized treatment, particularly for mental health. The National Library of Medicine put out a publication on this very issue. “​​Approximately one-fifth of the US population live in a rural area, and about one-fifth of those living in rural areas, or about 6.5 million individuals, have a mental illness [1,2]. Though the prevalence of serious mental illness and most psychiatric disorders is similar between US adults living in rural and urban areas [3,4], adults residing in rural geographic locations receive mental health treatment less frequently and often with providers with less specialized training, when compared to those residing in metropolitan locations.” (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). While there may not be more people in rural areas that need mental health treatment, as opposed to urban areas,  the access that they have to these services is much more limited. 

This is such a prevalent issue that there are entire organizations created to combat the disparity of mental health resources in rural areas.  The Rural Health Information Hub is one of these organizations. This group has published on their website that  “According to the Results from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Detailed Tables, approximately 7.7 million nonmetropolitan adults reported having any mental illness (AMI) in 2023, accounting for 22.7% of nonmetropolitan adults. In addition, 1.6 million, or 4.8%, of adults in nonmetropolitan areas reported having serious thoughts of suicide during the year.” (ruralhealthinfo.org).  There is a clear need for mental health resources in vast areas of our country, but the allocation and willingness of trained professional people to relocate to these rural areas is lacking. 

While there are an insufficient number of qualified professionals and facilities in these areas,  that does not mean that access to these resources is completely cut off. One of the few positive things to come out of the Covid-19 Pandemic was the mainstream acceptance and use of virtual platforms like zoom. Many therapists were able to continue serving their patients through platforms like this. Virtual treatment may not be a complete substitute for in person or more intensive treatment. By itself, making such services available will probably not solve the problem of limited mental health treatment in rural America. However, for many patients who need a therapist to talk through things, but do not not necessarily need inpatient treatment, virtual therapy can provide many of the benefits of in person therapy. Virtual therapy appointments can provide some important relief when no other services are available.. 

The limited availability of mental health services in rural America highlights another issue , which is a more limited acceptance of mental health treatment or a stigma in these areas.  Several involved groups have observed that there is a greater stigma associated with mental illness and treatment in rural communities than in urban communities.  (nami.org, usda.gov).  As mental health services become more available, even starting with virtual treatment, treatment may become more acceptable and this stigma may be reduced.  More people may seek out and be willing to use treatment.

Ultimately however, with all of this in mind, the question of why there are so few resources dedicated to this in rural areas will need to be addressed if we plan to make necessary services available equally to all Americans.  

Citation:

Morales, Dawn A, et al. “A Call to Action to Address Rural Mental Health Disparities.” Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 4 May 2020, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7681156/. 

Nami. “Confronting Mental Health Challenges in Rural America.” NAMI, 7 May 2024, www.nami.org/advocate/confronting-mental-health-challenges-in-rural-america/. 

“Rural Mental Health Matters: Challenges, Opportunities & …” USDA.Gov, United States Department of Agriculture,

www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/mental-health-awareness-month-community-webinar.pdf. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024. 

“Rural Mental Health Overview – Rural Health Information Hub.” Overview – Rural Health Information Hub, www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/mental-health. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024.

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