A Psychologist's View on Children Not Receiving Mental Health Care

Speaking as a psychologist, its essential for children to have access to medical and mental healthcare services. CDC states, "Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. children have a mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder, such as anxiety, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, and Tourette syndrome." Early diagnosis can be helpful and can often be the solution to these situations, however many families don't have access to mental nor medical healthcare services. There are multiple reasons why families don't have access to these services, some being; cost, location and shortages of faculty. While there are programs such as telemedicine that provide these services to patients via telephone, it isn't nearly as effective and what about the people who can't afford digital devices? In order to truly improve access to medical and mental healthcare, government policies needs to be adjusted. Healthcare should be considered a necessity, not an option, that is accessible to all patients.