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Philadelphia Inquirer: As need for mental-health services rises for college students, suburban Pa. campuses face lack of psychiatric providers

, Posted: October 2, 2020

As need for mental-health services rises for college students, suburban Pa. campuses face lack of psychiatric providers

MONICA HERNDON / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

At Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa., Allison Blechschmidt has noticed a yearly uptick in the number of students seeking psychiatric services, such as diagnoses of mental-health issues and prescriptions for antidepressants and antianxiety medication.

As the director of Moravian鈥檚 counseling center, Blechschmidt has tried a number of solutions to deal with the growing demand, such as having a psychiatrist on campus on certain days of the week or referring students to providers in the community. But neither was particularly efficient 鈥 paying for a psychiatrist is expensive, especially for smaller colleges, and the shortage of psychiatrists in the Lehigh Valley meant long waits for students looking for off-campus services.

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鈥淚f I can鈥檛 find someone in the community that a student can see in the next six weeks, that鈥檚 a long time for someone to be waiting,鈥 Blechschmidt said. 鈥淎ll this time, the student can鈥檛 get out of bed.鈥

This is a common dilemma for colleges in more rural parts of the United States. A 2009  found that 96% of U.S. counties have an unmet need for mental-health care professionals, and the problem is most prevalent in rural or suburban areas. In Pennsylvania,  live in areas with a shortage of mental-health care providers, according to KFF, a health-policy nonprofit. And the problem is expected to worsen: The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that  by 2025.

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