John Oliver Looks At Shocking Deficiencies In Mental Health Care

When John Oliver does a piece about something, it's usually not to say what a great job they're doing. And in this case, it's the U.S. mental health care system he scrutinizes. Via Mashable:

Oliver starts by laying out the scale of the problem, explaining that "about four in 10 adults in the U.S. have reported symptoms of anxiety of depressive disorder" during the pandemic, and that "more than half the people who need mental health care do not receive it, with that rate being even higher for minority populations."

Oliver spends the next 20 minutes breaking down some of the many mental health care issues, from troubling responses from mental health apps to insurance company denials and the large number of therapists leaving the profession.

"In the past, so much of the problem here was that people would not ask for help, and thankfully that's now less of an issue," Oliver concludes. "But now when people do reach out for help we're just not in a position to give it to them.

(He doesn't go into it, but you can usually find mental health care at your local federal health care center -- especially if the need is urgent. Google "federal health center near me.")

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