Mental Health Care is On Screens For Good Now, Let’s Get Ready

The American mental health care system has had some very
fundamental problems for a while now: there are too few
therapists, way too few psychiatrists, and it all adds up to not
enough people getting the care they need. With COVID, the system
needed to make some rapid changes that might go a long way to
addressing the problems. 


Dr. Anthony Sossong is a psychiatrist and he does a lot of work
on telehealth platforms. He says the technology has been in place
for a while and even though there are some glitches, the
necessity of long-distance psychiatry has brought some gifts.
Doctors can see more people, which is especially important in
underserved communities. 


Chet Wisniewski, an online security and privacy expert, joins us
with a look at the app side of behavioral health. He examines the
fine print on apps like Talkspace and reveals the personal
information you give up for the convenience of hand-held
therapy. 


We also hear about the ups and downs of the new online mental
health world from some of our listeners and learn a bit more
about Preshies, the new online mental health discussion group
that we started.


Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly
members of Maximum Fun. 


Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear
what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you
like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at
depreshmode@maximumfun.org.


Help is available right away.


The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255,
1-800-273-TALK


Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.


International suicide hotline numbers available
here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines


The Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe
for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health
issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/


John's acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is
available
here. https://read.macmillan.com/lp/the-hilarious-world-of-depression/


Find the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.


John is on Twitter @johnmoe.