Mental Health

Mental health policy addresses the availability, affordability, and quality of behavioral health care — including treatment for depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorders. Mental illness affects approximately one in five American adults in any given year, yet fewer than half receive treatment. The gap stems from a severe shortage of mental health providers (the U.S. is short an estimated 30,000 psychiatrists), cost barriers, inadequate insurance coverage, and persistent stigma. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 requires insurers to cover mental health and substance use treatment at the same level as physical health — but enforcement has been inconsistent and inadequate. Youth mental health has reached crisis levels: emergency room visits for self-harm and suicidal ideation among teenagers surged during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting bipartisan concern. The Surgeon General issued an advisory in 2023 explicitly naming social media as a significant contributor to the adolescent mental health crisis. Congress has responded with legislation restricting minors' access to social media platforms, though the First Amendment implications are contested in the courts. Suicide rates in the U.S. have risen since 1999 and remain among the highest in the developed world. Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that depression and anxiety cost the global economy $1 trillion per year in lost productivity.