Dr. Phil on health: what the evidence says · JRE #1254
SUBJECT: HEALTH
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
I generally think it's a good thing because I think 58% of our rural markets today have no psychiatrist available and something like 50% or roughly have no mental health professional available at all, none.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
Dr. Phil claimed that 58% of U.S. rural markets have no psychiatrist available and that roughly 50% have no mental health professional of any kind. Peer-reviewed workforce research shows a more severe shortage than the 58% figure: a widely cited 2018 analysis (Andrilla et al., American Journal of Preventive Medicine), cited in a 2025 Journal of Rural Health study, found that an estimated 65% of U.S. rural counties have no practicing psychiatrist. A related NIH-hosted study found that 19% of all U.S. counties (596 counties, about 10.5 million residents), disproportionately rural and lower-income, lacked both a psychiatrist and broadband access. No source identified in this review reports that roughly 50% of rural areas lack a mental health professional of any type (psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, counselor, or nurse practitioner combined). The claim is directionally accurate in describing a severe, well-documented rural psychiatrist shortage, but the specific 58% figure understates the shortage relative to the most commonly cited research (65%), and the "roughly 50% have no mental health professional at all" figure could not be corroborated by any identified study.