- Talk to most anyone and they'll tell you, life is more complicated and more stressful than ever.

- We have suffered this malaise right now where folks are feeling so anxious about their lives - And the whole mental health system.

You know, we're all struggling - Working with a professional therapist, counselor, or psychiatrist has been proven to help.

But - Trying to find a therapist.

What's the hardest thing ever?

- You know, there are waiting lists.

Two and three months.

- There's not enough boots on the ground out there.

- Recent surveys, one after another show, a system that is largely unable to meet the need for behavioral healthcare.

Rural and underserved populations are even less likely to get the care they need.

- My life kind of went down a really dark path.

- I felt empty, I felt broken.

What's behind the roadblocks to mental health care?

What are the consequences of the shortage and what can be done to bring more help to those who are struggling to find it?

In July of 2024, hundreds of behavioral health workers from the Pittsburgh area gathered to hear from a man who suffered a life-changing injury.

- I felt like I was dying on the inside.

- In 2012, Leon Ford was just 19 and unarmed.

When he was shot five times by police during a traffic stop, the bullet struck him in the spine, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

- And the more I began to suppress that pain, the more angry I became, the more resentful I became.

- He was sharing his story with a mostly African American audience that understands all too well the need for mental health care and the stigma around it.

- There's so many people within our communities suppressing their pain and they're dying on the inside.

This level of trauma, this level of adversity, - I got to a point where all of my coping mechanisms no longer works, right?

So the writing, listening to music, you know, partying with friends, you know, those things that would sustain me no longer help.

Took seven years for me to go to therapy after I was shot.

- The irritability to mood swings, the not being able to sleep, the nightmares, - Dr. Erica Gibner was Leon's therapist.

- When you actually find your person or you find that therapist, it's that person that should be able to provide a safe place for you to be brave and like open up and talk about, you know, what is keeping you stuck.

- But finding a therapist is not easy.

In 2024, more than half of those in the US with a diagnosed mental health condition had not received any treatment in the previous year.

In 2018, more than half of the counties in the US did not have even one practicing psychiatrist.

In Pennsylvania, 1.7 million people live in communities that do not have enough mental health professionals to meet their needs.

Those in crisis often have no other option than to go to hospital emergency rooms, which are not meant to provide much mental health care.

- Oftentimes, they were turned away because, you know, lack of services.

And when you go to the emergency room, it's just for a short period and they may give you a referral.

They would have to travel sometimes 45 minutes to get to an office to see someone, and then they had waiting lists too.

- And the barriers to care are especially hard to climb in underserved communities.

A recent study indicates that more than half of the nation's LGBTQ, young people were unable to get the mental health care they needed.

- So how was today?

How did you feel about it?

- Dena Stanley is a trans woman who leads the Pittsburgh nonprofit TransYOUniting, which serves individuals in the LGBTQ+ community.

She and her assistant, Patrick Mayoral, have benefited from therapy during their own mental health crises.

But finding it wasn't easy.

- Trying find somebody who understands me is, is such a challenge.

We don't have a lot of mental health specialists that look like me at all.

If any.

- Dena sought help after the death of her brother, but she understands the cultural stigma around seeking help or even acknowledging the need for it.

Finding help is challenging and time consuming.

- I cannot think about my mental health really.

I'm gonna try, but I'm gonna have my meltdowns by myself.

I wanna figure it out.

But I still gotta go to work.

I still gotta pay my bills.

I still gotta put food on the table for my kids.

If you do go seek help, then you have your some type of crazy and it's like if you don't get it, then you're not crazy.

- And for those who are black or brown or in the LGBTQ communities, it can be difficult to find the right therapist.

Only 6% of mental health workers in the US are black or brown.

While black and brown people make up a third of the population, and studies show that many mental healthcare providers are not properly trained to address the concerns of LGBTQ patients.

Patrick Mayoral experienced that mismatch in the connection when he came to Pittsburgh for a theater scholarship and faced a crisis.

- I ran in with some bad people and my life kind of went down a really dark path and I like almost died and tried to kill myself a few times.

As a gay man, me trying to explain this to a straight therapist, it makes 'em not necessarily able to empathize with my situation.

Not from a lack of wanting to, but just from a lack of being able to.

When someone from your own culture is able to be your therapist, it helps you unlock a barrier that is often between a therapist and their client.

My mental health therapist saved my life.

- The life-saving help is out of the reach of so many for a number of reasons.

There's the stigma against seeking help at all, but also the overall shortage, perhaps caused by fewer students choosing the field and attrition among those already in it.

- Most of us live very humble lives.

As I tell my students, I tell them, if you got into this field to make a lot of money, you're in the wrong profession.

Overworked and underpaid.

That folks who come into the mental health field come in with the want and the calling to help those in need.

And what they're met with is a system in which those things become almost impossible to get to because you're, you're, you're faced with paperwork and progress notes and administrative duties and things that really have nothing to do with providing a person with mental health care.

- Additionally, mental healthcare is expensive and insurance reimbursements can lag behind what's covered for physical ailments.

A longstanding problem that calls for changes in policy.

- I would hope that, that someday there would be like a dedicated funding that can't be changed or altered or reduced.

National dedicated funding.

And in our case here, particularly guaranteed year after year mental health money, - We have through this malaise right now where folks are feeling so anxious about their lives and about the world around them and the world around them is quite literally on fire politically, right?

Socially, the environment.

It, it sounds as though that in many instances you see a lot of giving on your end and, and not a lot coming back toward you.

- Yeah, I I sometimes, and I don't wanna say that they're doing nothing, but I just wish I didn't have to ask so much for help.

- As the world was forced indoors during the pandemic, telehealth grew and continues to offer options for therapy.

But even that is beyond the reach of many.

- I know in the state of Pennsylvania, it's hard to believe, but there are rural areas that do not have internet.

- And facing a therapist on a screen isn't always as effective as being in the same room.

- I feel like black people, black and brown people, we really know how to hide.

We really know how to mask your suffering, and I feel like a lot of black and brown people really need to be in front of somebody so they can be able to help see what is actually going on.

What is that body language?

What does that gesture mean - By sitting face to face with his therapist, Leon Ford found a path to forgiveness and healing.

He built an organization called the Hear Foundation, which works to improve communication and cooperation between communities and law enforcement.

He couldn't have done it without the help of therapy, something we all may need someday.

- It completely changed the trajectory of my life.

- I think that if we had more therapists, which came from a more diverse background of races, creeds, colors, ethnicities, more people would be able to seek mental healthcare and more people would be able to ultimately face the problems which plague everybody.

- We need more people like us that can have those conversations and say, I made it.

I'm still here.

You can do it too.

- My hope is, is that there will be a time when, one, we get better at understanding mental health and the need for good providers, but also the accessibility of it.

How accessible is this to folks?

As well as moving in a direction where people feel as though being heard and understood in a very meaningful way.