Mental Health and Mental Health Care in Rural America: The Hope of Redesigned Primary Care

n the United States, most people with mental health issues or disorders emain untreated. This situation appears to be true for all stages of the ife span. For instance, Lenardson et al noted this for the majority of hildren with mental health problems. Likewise, according to Throniroft, although 31% of the United States population is affected by mental ealth issues annually, less than half (approximately 33%) are actually reated. Rural populations in the United States, both children and adults, xperience an even greater burden of untreated mental illness or disorders han nonrural populations. The authors of one article aver that rural hildren with a mental health problem and behavioral difficulty were less ikely to get treatment than nonrural children. Another review asserted hat in rural America, in general, mental health remains overlooked. The uthors of this review also pointed out that adolescents and older adults n US rural communities have significantly higher suicide rates compared ith nonrural residents. Other research has documented that depression mong US rural women is a major public health concern because the revalence of depression documented in rural women is considerably igher than that of nonrural women. Depression along with other mental ealth issues has also been identified among serious concerns for rural en, particularly because perceptions of being male entail characteristics hat discourage the acknowledgment of vulnerabilities, such as sadness or motional struggles or lack of social connectedness. Rural residents are a vulnerable population when it comes to mental ealth and mental health care. This is consistent with epidemiological