Experts are concerned about a lack of resources available to treat mental health issues that have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey in June 2020 found that 40 percent of U.S. adults had problems with mental health or substance abuse, with 31 percent suffering from anxiety or depression.
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Indiana also saw increases, as 27.4 percent of Hoosier adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depression in 2020.
Barbara Thompson is executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Indiana. She says many health centers are not accepting new patients.
“Getting appointments, if you are lucky, can take weeks to months and there are some areas where there have been times where you can’t even get an appointment,” she said.
Thompson says this is due to a shortage of health care workers.
