For patients in rural areas of the United States, getting to a therapist once involved hours of driving on country roads. Now thanks to a rapidly expanding network of telepsychiatry centers being set up in rural health clinics across the U.S. however, therapists are counseling patients from miles away via television screens and real-time audio-video connections.
While some argue the method lacks the personal touch of sharing the same room, telepsychiatry is becoming increasingly popular among patients in remote areas who might otherwise go untreated and shows potential to reach a wider scope of far-away or otherwise unavailable patients in the future.
Read more: Mental health treatment by video
On the Web: American Telemedicine Association