Over the last few years, news outlets and social media have been highlighting the burden of mental illness, especially as fears of a post-pandemic tsunami of mental illness grew. Sadly, those fears have been realized and, unsurprisingly, just talking about the broken system has not led to viable solutions. The pandemic has only made a critical situation worse.
The mental healthcare system has been under-funded, poorly organized, bureaucracy-centred (rather than patient-centred), unscientific and barrier-riddled for so long, it is irreparably broken. Money alone cannot fix the inadequate care we currently deliver.
Governments appear to have woken up to the urgent need to invest in mental healthcare, but at the same time, they are conflating substance use disorders (especially the opioid crisis) with mental illness. Mental illness and addiction frequently co-occur, but not always. A mounting death toll, especially of so many young people, has appropriately driven governments to act. However, while giving citizens access to a clean drug supply may keep users alive, that won’t treat their mental illness, which could help to break the cycle of addiction. Funneling financial resources towards addiction is important, but not the whole answer, and certainly not the answer to what ails our mental healthcare system. The system needs innovative solutions.
The lack of healthy, skilled practitioners is another critical challenge that money alone can’t solve. Pre-pandemic, clinician burnout was already extremely high. This might explain at least some of the lack of compassion experienced by patients, families and practitioners, when interacting with the mental healthcare system.
The pandemic forced healthcare practitioners to work in chaotic and dire circumstances for more than two years. Initially, just going to work meant putting their staff, their families and their own lives at risk. The politicization of COVID heightened the risks, and the stress, because some patients refused to mask, get vaccinated, or respect the vulnerabilities of others. It’s no wonder nearly 60% of physicians report a high level of burnout and professional dissatisfaction. Nearly 50% are planning to scale back their patient care hours. practitioners need innovative solutions.