More American adults with mental health needs have been getting talk therapy in recent years, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. The study also found that the number of people using only psychiatric medications for treatment declined for the first time in years.
"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," says Dr. Mark Olfson, a psychiatrist and epidemiologist at Columbia University.
"The number of American adults who receive psychotherapy went up from about 6.5% in 2018, up to 8.5% in 2021," he says. "So that's increased from about 16.5 million to nearly 22 million people."
The findings mark a significant change from patterns of previous years, explains Olfson, who is the study's lead author.
