Reforms to remove barriers to seeking mental health care were underway before the pandemic.

In 2018, the Federation of State Medical Boards — the organization that represents state medical boards — recommended either removing mental health questions or focusing questions on current problems which cause impairment of practice. 

This year, more than three dozen professional medical and advocacy groups — including the American College of Emergency Physicians, American Medical Association, and American Psychiatric Association — have joined the bandwagon. The effort has led several state boards — including Ohio and North Carolina — to revise questions.

Now, because of the pandemic, legislators recently introduced two bipartisan bills to improve access to provider mental health. One, the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, named after a New York physician who died by suicide during the pandemic, aims to expand mental health training programs and launch a national campaign to encourage clinicians to get support and treatment.

While these policies, programs and recommendations represent important steps to help prevent or curb these issues, they won’t eliminate the problem entirely.

Mental health experts acknowledge that caring for people at their sickest is not easy, but it should be easier for physicians and nurses to seek help without consequences or fear.