---
title: 'Training laypeople to help in mental health care'
media_order: training_laypeople.jpg
date: '06:04 15-03-2019'
published: true
publish_date: '15:45 03/14/2017'
taxonomy:
    category:
        - scratchpad
    tag:
        - psychology
        - talk-therapy
visible: false
author: 'The Economist.com'
---

**[Most mental-health problems are untreated. Trained laypeople can help.](https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/03/16/most-mental-health-problems-are-untreated-trained-laypeople-can-help)**

_Talk therapy is cheap and surprisingly effective_

Mental-health care needs to change as almost everywhere, psychiatrists and clinical psychologists are scarce. Talk therapy, which the World Health Organisation recommends as a first line of treatment for mild-to-moderate depression and anxiety, can be delegated to non-specialists—a concept known as "[task-shifting](https://www.economist.com/international/2019/03/16/what-disasters-reveal-about-mental-health-care)"