It is an established fact that there is a shortage of psychiatrists in Seattle. Both of the insurance companies I've been with in the last few years displayed a restricted selection of female psychiatrists within 2 miles of my house, in network of course. Many that were suggested were at Seattle Children's Hospital and were specifically for children and adolescence but were listed anyways. The choices offered were spread out over the city, some in difficult to access neighborhoods. At the on campus health center for students, the psychiatrists offered were nearly all residents, psychiatrists in training, with one or two supervising psychiatrists for the entire floor. Swedish Medical Center, my primary care provider, focuses on inpatient and simply recommends nearby private practitioners for services rather than partnering with them. These private practitioners can be extraordinarily expensive and some have agenda driven treatment approaches that does not flex depending on the patient. There are also numerous community clinics meant for low income or no income individuals and most focus on dual diagnosis with some form of substance dependency. Long discussions with my own provider also has confirmed my initial observations. Fortunately, with the VA and two major University teaching hospitals, the UW Medical Center and Harborview, inpatient and emergency psychiatric care is not lacking.
I always wondered why this deficit exists because I mistakenly assumed that because of our large knowledge economy and being such a highly educated city that more use of biomedical approaches to mental health would be made therefore resulting in a plethora of psychiatrists.
While I don't have a hypothesis for this unexpected paucity, I do plan on looking further into this, hopefully to come out with some accountability. This article published by Thomas Insel, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health, provides some good base evidence for the shortage of psychiatrists, as according to Insel, psychiatry in general is becoming less attractive as a field to pursue compared to neuroscience, which is progressively becoming more connected with psychiatry with new advances in research.
I still feel like there is something missing here. Seattle also has an unmatched prevalence of Multiple Sclerosis, of which depression is a symptom. There is the cloudy, raining weather as well which effects many, not just those with Seasonal Affective Disorder. I don't have SAD and I've tried sun spectrum lamps and still nothing raises my serotonin like a sunny day and nothing makes things more miserable than they already are like rain and clouds. Seattle should have a healthy roster of psychiatrists, but it doesn't. More questions are to be asked!
Picture above from Seattle Etsy artist, faunafindsflora. Mixed media.
