We are blessed to have some really good child psychiatrists here in central Maine. That being said, it is almost impossible to get kids in to see them. This is not a knock on them at all. They are just overwhelmed. The vetting process whereupon each referral is screened is pretty intense. What that means is that any garden variety mental illness for a kid is pushed back to us primary care folk. As if any mental illness in a kid is garden variety? Maine is not alone in need for help in this area. A recent report surveying state and county mental health officials states adequate mental health care is appropriate in only one in five states. Even those states still have very long waiting lists. The answer has been to thrust that responsibility onto the schools and primary care doctors. Boy, that seems like a common theme, huh? To be honest, I am okay with seeing kids with these problems. I think I am pretty good at it. I just need to have the adequate time to spend with them. Oh, it would also be nice if the insurers, Medicaid, etc. would compensate appropriately for this extra time. A man can dream, can't he?
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