A recent study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry indicates a notable increase in American adults seeking talk therapy. From 2018 to 2021, those receiving psychotherapy rose from 6.5% to 8.5%, reaching almost 22 million individuals, a shift from a decline and plateau in previous decades. Simultaneously, the reliance on psychiatric medications decreased, with only medication usage declining from 67.6% to 62.1%. This trend highlights psychotherapy's enhanced role in outpatient care, particularly among individuals with depression and anxiety, as more new patients are adhering to therapy and scheduling more visits.
We're seeing that during this time, this increase represents a period where psychotherapy is assuming a more important role in outpatient mental health care.
The number of American adults who receive psychotherapy went up from about 6.5% in 2018, up to 8.5% in 2021, so that's increased from about 16 and a half million to nearly 22 million people.
What we'd seen going all the way back to the late 1980s when Prozac first came on the scene is that medications had assumed a more important role in the delivery of outpatient mental health care.
Overall, it suggests that psychotherapy [is] becoming more accessible to people and people are able to take advantage of it.
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