Mental Illness 

Mental Illness is a disease, like any  other medical condition. Individuals need support, intervention and continued treatment.  In the US 21 million adults live with depression, while 3 million youth, ages 3-17 experience major depression, anxiety disorders,  panic attacks and behavior disorders.  Suicide is the second cause of death in those 12-17. There are 12 million people living with PTSD, 3.3 million  with bipolar disorder, and 1.5  million have schizophrenia. Race and ethnicity groups have some of the highest rates of mental health conditions. This population includes multi-race individuals,  American Indian,  Alaskan, Hispanic, and Latino. There was a 2% increase in U.S. adults receiving treatment in 2023, yet  42% of U.S. adults with a mental illness condition reported they could not afford to access treatment.  93.5% of adults with a substance abuse disorder were not able to receive treatment until 2024. 10% covered by insurance did not have access to mental health services due to lack of available providers. There is one provider for every  350 individuals in need of service. 

Is this a result of services being shut down, lack of adequate services provided or hiring freezes by insurance?  The system is broken.  It needs to be fixed.  Jane Goeke, MSN, RN 314-704-4160