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Issue Position: Invest in America's Mental Health

Issue Position

Date: Jan. 1, 2019
Issues: Health and Health Care

There is a mental health crisis in America. Our life expectancy is declining due in part to increasing rates of suicide. Anxiety and depression levels are at record highs and being made worse in young people by excessive use of smartphones. In 2014, an American College Health Association SURVEY of close to 100,000 college students reported that 86% felt overwhelmed by all they had to do, 54% felt overwhelming anxiety, and 8% seriously considered suicide in the last 12 months. Use of anti-depressants and prescription medications are also at unprecedented levels.

On the treatment side, too few Americans receive adequate treatment and many communities lack mental health resources. At the extreme end, some of the mentally ill become threats to others.


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