By Brenda Flanagan
Correspondent

Got stress? New Jersey does. We’ve lost homes to monster storms, jobs to a bad economy, but good mental health services can be hard to find — much less afford. 

“I was left alone, hopeless, helpless — it’s overwhelming as a parent,” said Tricia Baker.

Mental health advocate Baker lost her son, Kenny, to suicide. She says the mental health system’s overwhelmed.

“Out of everyone who has a mental health disorder, about 40 percent get treatment. 60 percent never get treatment. And a lot of the responses we get from young people is that it’s too difficult to get help, or it’s too expensive to get help,” said Baker.

Baker says more people in crisis could get treatment, if psychologists could get licensed to prescribe medications. Currently in New Jersey, only psychiatrists — medical doctors — are licensed to do that. 

“There’s a lot of confusion. People who come into my office regularly and say “Can I get medication from you?” Not at this point,” said NJ Psychological Association President Jeffrey Singer. 

PhD Psychologist Singer’s urging lawmakers to pass a bill that would let New Jersey join three other states that allow psychologists with doctoral degrees to prescribe drugs — only medications designed to treat mental health problems. He says a new licensing procedure would require extra training.

“An additional two years worth of course work, another year of field work under an MD or DO, and then having to sit for licensure for a psycho-pharmacology license,” said Singer.

A recent survey shows out of 1,550 certified New Jersey psychiatrists — less than half accept insurance. Out of those, only half are accepting new patients, and among those psychiatrists, half estimate you’ll wait two months or more for an appointment. 

“There is a shortage of psychiatrists at the moment in the state of New Jersey,” said Singer.

“We recognize that we’ve got to work to improve access to care,” said New Jersey Psychiatric Association trustee Dr. Debra Koss.

Koss is a psychiatrist — a medical doctor who’s legally allowed to prescribe meds. And she opposes the bill that would grant psychologists the same Rx privileges as MDs.

“These psychiatric medications travel through out the body and could have effect on other body systems,” said Koss. 

Koss showed us the Psychiatric Association’s new website — that lists arguments against licensing psychologists to write scripts. 
 
“That level of training, that level of education needs to be there and needs to be broad, so that the prescriber can understands all of those complexities,” said Koss..

“We are extraordinarily committed to the safety and well being of our patients,” said Singer.

While most psychologists say they support the proposal, others say they’re worried — they don’t want colleagues to shift from offering counseling to prescribing medication — just because they can. 
 
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