Mental Health at a Crossroads: What is the Role of Organized Psychiatry?

A national mental health crisis, exacerbated by the isolation, interruptions, and uncertainties of the pandemic, is overwhelming stressed health care delivery systems and leaving many without needed care. Psychiatry is the branch of medicine specifically trained to respond to such crises, and yet psychiatry too faces challenges of limited workforce, financing disparity, and continually evolving science. How, then, can psychiatry situate itself within treatment systems to meet its responsibilities to the population? And what is the role of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the world's largest psychiatric organization, in setting the norms and targets of the profession to meet today's and future mental health crises? At this consortium, leaders from the APA discussed the future of psychiatry and the work the APA has done over the past year to revisit norms and priorities for the profession against a backdrop of crisis and change. Together, we considered how a professional association plays a powerful organizing role in the health care system and its ability to ethically serve the public. Panelists include: Rebecca Weintraub Brendel, MD, JD, Charles Dike, FRCPsych, MBChB, MPH, and Robert L. Trestman, PhD, MD. Moderated by Kelsey N. Berry, PhD. Co-organized by Kelsey N. Berry, PhD and Charlotte H. Harrison, PhD, JD, MPH, HEC-C. Support provided by the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund at Harvard University.