If you've had to wait weeks, even months, to see a psychiatrist you're not alone. Minnesota is part of a national trend in a shortage of mental health counselors at a time when roughly one in five Americans will experience a mental health problem as an adult.
The shortage is most acute if you are looking for help in rural America or if you're hoping to see a counselor of color.
How did we get here? And what are the consequences of such an urgent shortage?
MPR News Host Kerri Miller spoke with two guests:
• Dr. Joseph Bianco practices family medicine in Ely with Essentia Health
• Dr. Katharine "Kaz" Nelson is an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Minnesota