Mental Health Care is On Screens For Good Now, Let’s Get Ready

Episode 9

17th May 2021

The pandemic means almost all psychiatry and talk therapy is done on computers and phones now and it’s going to stay that way. We tell you what you need to know about that, the upsides and downsides.

Episode notes

The American mental health care system has had some very fundamental problems for a while now: there are too few therapists, way too few psychiatrists, and it all adds up to not enough people getting the care they need. With COVID, the system needed to make some rapid changes that might go a long way to addressing the problems.

Dr. Anthony Sossong is a psychiatrist and he does a lot of work on telehealth platforms. He says the technology has been in place for a while and even though there are some glitches, the necessity of long-distance psychiatry has brought some gifts. Doctors can see more people, which is especially important in underserved communities.

Chet Wisniewski, an online security and privacy expert, joins us with a look at the app side of behavioral health. He examines the fine print on apps like Talkspace and reveals the personal information you give up for the convenience of hand-held therapy.

We also hear about the ups and downs of the new online mental health world from some of our listeners and learn a bit more about Preshies, the new online mental health discussion group that we started.

Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun. 

Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at depreshmode@maximumfun.org.

Help is available right away.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALK

Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.

International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines

The Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/

John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is available here. https://read.macmillan.com/lp/the-hilarious-world-of-depression/

Find the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.

John is on Twitter @johnmoe.

In this episode...

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  • Dr. Anthony Sossong
  • Chester Wisniewski

About the show

Join host John Moe (The Hilarious World of Depression) for honest, relatable, and, yes, sometimes funny conversations about mental health. Hear from comedians, musicians, authors, actors, and other top names in entertainment and the arts about living with depression, anxiety, and many other common disorders. Find out what they’ve done to address it, what worked, and what didn’t. Depresh Mode with John Moe also features useful insights on mental health issues with experts in the field. It’s honest talk from people who have been there and know their stuff. No shame, no stigma, and maybe a few laughs.

Like this podcast? Then you’ll love John’s book, The Hilarious World of Depression.

Logo by Clarissa Hernandez.

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