PA Congresswoman: After My Partner Died of Suicide, Mental Health Issues Became My Focus | Opinion

Press Release

Key Points:

"When I was elected to Congress just six months earlier, I never expected that mental health issues would be a top focus of my work. But I'm a big believer in following the path that life takes you on, and after Kerry's death, I made mental health one of my most important priorities."

The research shows that decreasing the stigma around mental health challenges is an important first step to help save lives.

But decreasing the stigma alone is not enough. This first step must coincide with improving access to the mental health resources for all those that need them -- and for students on college campuses, resources can be hard to come by.

Among the United States' 21 million college and university students , two-thirds report struggling with loneliness, and 83% said their mental health had negatively impacted their academic performance. From 2019 to 2020, approximately 36.9% of college and university students who received mental health services had seriously considered suicide.

"It's time for Congress to tackle this growing problem and give America's students the support and resources they deserve. I am proud to be introducing the bipartisan Enhancing Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Through Campus Planning Act alongside my colleague Congressman Fred Keller (R., Pa.) to do just that: Ensure that no student suffers alone."

This bill would help fill the gap in unmet mental health needs of college students by providing resources to institutions of higher learning to develop and implement comprehensive mental health and suicide prevention plans, with support from the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services.
But most important, passing this bill would send a powerful message to America's students that help is available.

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