Show notes
America has a psychiatric care crisis — and most families are living it without knowing why. Kelley Jensen and Julianna Scott dig into their new Refrigerator Paper, Psyched Out: No Appointments Available, to answer one of the most common questions they hear: "Why haven't I heard of TMS?" The answer, it turns out, starts long before a patient ever walks into a clinic.With only about 60,000 practicing psychiatrists in the country — and nearly half of Americans living in officially designated mental health shortage areas — access to care is shrinking just as demand explodes. Half of all lifetime mental illnesses begin by age 14, millions are entering the system earlier than ever, and a retirement wave is projected to remove tens of thousands more psychiatrists from the workforce by 2030. Meanwhile, only 5–10% of psychiatrists prescribe TMS, even though it's covered by insurance and backed by clinical evidence. The result? Medication becomes the default — including for autistic children — simply because it's the only tool most practitioners are trained to use.Kelley and Julianna aren't just naming the problem — they're making the case for real solutions: expanding GP accreditation for TMS, loosening restrictions on psychiatric nurse practitioners, and recruiting the next generation of psychiatrists. Most importantly, they're calling on families and consumers to demand more. If you've ever been handed a prescription and wondered whether there was another option, this one's for you.🔗 Learn More:Website: refrigeratormoms.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/refrigeratormoms/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/refrigeratormomsFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/refrigeratormoms/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@RefrigeratorMomsRefrigerator Moms is sponsored by Brain Performance Technologies, a specialty mental health clinic that offers neuromodulation treatments including SAINT (Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy) for treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder, as well as MeRT (Magnetic e-resonance therapy) for autistic people aged three or older. Learn more at https://brainperformancetechnologies.com(00:00) - Introduction & episode overview
(00:29) - What is "Psyched Out" paper about?
(01:17) - Scale of the mental health crisis
(02:06) - Sponsor: Brain Performance Technologies
(02:33) - How few psychiatrists are there?
(03:39) - Psychiatrists retiring & the funding gap
(04:16) - How to become a psychiatrist
(05:15) - Psychiatric nurse practitioners
(05:38) - The coming retirement wave by 2030
(06:00) - Mental health shortage areas
(06:37) - Sponsor: SAINT protocol explained
(07:19) - Medication as the default for autism
(08:12) - GPs filling the prescription gap
(08:41) - 42% of antidepressants from GPs
(09:33) - Why TMS remains underutilized
(10:23) - What you can do about it
(11:22) - Closing thoughts
(11:24) - Subscribe & find resources
(11:46) - Disclaimer
