Drop Your Guard

The Mental Health Crisis

The World as we know it is under a Major Health Crisis…

Give me a few moments of your time and your full attention and let me share some data with you that I have complied that is both really eye opening and is very disturbing.

First off, I’m not talking about the recent Global Health Crisis known as the COVID-19 Pandemic which affected roughly 26 million people here in the U.S. in 2020.

The Crisis I speak of has actually been around for Decades, maybe even Centuries. Despite annually affecting more than DOUBLE the people that COVID-19 did in the U.S. in all of 2020 it receives very little attention and/or support. (Or at least not close to enough)

I’m talking about the Global Mental Health Crisis that is out of control that affects roughly 20% of the U.S. population. 1 in 5 U.S. Adults and 1 in 6 U.S. Youth (age 6-17) suffer from a Mental Illness each year. That adds up to roughly 60 MILLION people here in the U.S every year! Roughly 13 million of these people suffer from a serious Mental Illness.

To put those numbers into perspective the total number of Mental Illness cases in the U.S. in a year’s time is again more than DOUBLE the total number of cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. in all of 2020. A Pandemic that we are all aware of that shut down our country, closed our schools, made us wear masks, and made us socially distance ourselves from everyone including extended family along with a long list of other restrictions. (hopefully all wise decisions…)

If we look pre-COVID-19, in 2019 there were MORE cases of Mental Illness in the U.S. compared to the total amount of flu cases.

Despite these astronomical numbers we as a country appear to be doing very little to help or improve the state of Mental Health here in the U.S. If we are then it is not working very well as the numbers are on the rise.

Sadly only 43.8% (less than half) of U.S. Adults with a Mental Illness received treatment in 2019. That left roughly 29 million Adults to suffer with no help. The numbers for U.S. Youth are a little better yet still sad. 50.6% of those with a Mental Health Disorder (age 6-17) received treatment when looking at 2016. That year roughly 3.8 million of our kids suffered with no help. UNACCEPTABLE!

To put those numbers into perspective MORE Americans will suffer from a Mental Illness and receive NO treatment every year compared to ALL those that were affected by COVID-19 in the U.S. in all of 2020. Again UNACCEPTABLE!

These numbers make a little more sense, sad be it, when we see that 10.9% of U.S. Adults with a Mental Illness had no coverage in 2019 and a mind blowing 60% of U.S. Counties do not have one single practicing psychiatrist. Over HALF the country does not have ONE dedicated Mental Health Doctor.

For those who do get help the average delay between Mental Illness symptoms and treatment is a long, painful, and dangerous 11 years.

Studies show that roughly 5% of all U.S. Adults have serious thoughts about suicide, roughly 12% of U.S. Young Adults have serious thoughts about suicide, and roughly 19% of High School Students have serious thoughts about suicide.

In 2019 12 million Adults in the U.S. had serious thoughts about suicide, 3.5 million of these people made a plan, and 1.4 million people attempted suicide. (217,000 of which had no plan)

Suicide is the TENTH leading cause of death in the U.S. with roughly 50,000 deaths per year (prior to 2020) and is increasing. 78% of these deaths are Young Males so “Manning Up!” is not the answer.

Suicide is the SECOND leading cause of death amongst our young people age 10-34 in the U.S. only topped by Unintentional Injury.

Over FOUR times as many people in the U.S. age 10-34 take their own life per year compared to those of the same age group who died to COVID-19 in the U.S. in all of 2020.

Suicide is the FOURTH leading cause of death among people age 35-54 in the U.S. only topped by Heart Disease, Cancer, and Unintentional Injury which are the top 3 causes of death in the U.S. overall.

To put all these suicide numbers into perspective MORE people under the age of 55 in the U.S. will kill themselves each year compared to ALL those under the age of 55 who died to COVID-19 in the U.S. in all of 2020.

The most disturbing statistic is that 46% of those who commit suicide have a diagnosed Mental Health condition. Through psychological autopsy (interviewing family, friends, and medical professionals) we know that 90% of those who die from suicide showed symptoms of a Mental Health condition. This tells us that roughly half the suicides we knew there were potential problems yet we did nothing except talk about it after it was too late.

As for the total deaths per year in the U.S. that are Mental Health related it would be difficult to come up with a total. How many other deaths beyond suicide can be attributed to Mental Health to add to the total?

For example, we know that poor Mental Health has a drastic impact on substance abuse. There are roughly 70,000 deaths in the U.S. per year due to overdose prior to 2020. How many of these deaths are Mental Health related?

We also know that people with depression have a 40% higher chance of developing cardiovascular and metabolic diseases that may lead to death. How many of these deaths are Mental Health related?

Whatever the total number of Mental Health related deaths is in the U.S. it is a big number, it is out of control, and it needs attention immediately!

So, what is the answer to the Mental Health Crisis we are under?

I think we need to first focus on our kids.

Data suggests that approximately 50% of lifelong Mental Health conditions begin by age 14 and 75% begin by age 24. This evidence supports that if we work with our Youth, we can aggressively attack this Crisis.

We need to break down the Stigma that surrounds Mental Health and make talking about Mental Health as easy and common as it is to talk about Physical Health. This could and should start in our schools. Teach our kids about the importance of Mental Health along with giving them the tools and support they need to stay “Mentally Healthy”.

We also need to talk about Mental Health more in the mainstream. Again, to break down the Stigma. I wonder what would happen if every news station had a Case and Death Toll Ticker with the MILLIONS of those effected by Mental Illness playing 24/7 like they did for COVID-19?

We could then use more support from the highest levels.

Our recently elected President came out with a 198 page “Plan” to battle COVID-19 just days into his term. When has there ever been a “Plan” to battle the Mental Health Crisis in the U.S. that has been around longer than all of us? Has it just never fit the “narrative”?

“Operation Warp Speed” showed us exactly what we can do if we want to. Many said it would be impossible but a vaccine was created in under a year to help stop COVID-19. We are not going to wipe out Mental Illness completely but we can do so much better. Why don’t we? Is it because there isn’t enough “profit” to be made?

When it comes to battling Physical Illnesses in the U.S., we have been making great strides again showing what we can do if we want to with focus.

Heart Disease deaths (the number one killer in the U.S.) are down 50% over the past 50 years and are continues to drop. This can be explained, in part, by improvements in long term and emergency care.

Cancer deaths (the number two killer in the U.S.) are down 27% over the past 30 years since its peak in 1991. This drop is mostly due to reductions in smoking and great advances in early detection and treatment.

When it comes to battling Mental Illnesses in the U.S., we are failing and we are losing the fight.

The suicide rate here in the U.S. prior to a very difficult 2020 has INCREASED 35% over the past 20 years and it continues to rise.

Since 2000 the suicide rates have lowered in Canada (11.1%), China (59.6%), Germany (17%), Japan (1.9%), the Russian Federation (44.4%), and the United Kingdom (21.1%).

In the same time the suicide rate here in the U.S. has gone UP 24.2%.

Maybe it’s about time we attempt to flatten that curve?

Maybe we can learn something from the above countries. They have all made suicide prevention a mission, through efforts such as improving access to Mental Health treatment, investing in community interventions, coordinating suicide prevention across health-care, social, education, and employment services, and implementing workplace suicide prevention programs.

In closing I ask; how many more people here in the U.S. need to kill themselves before we start making Mental Health a priority and start doing something about it?