Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: Examining The Current State Of American Mental Health
What if the cure for our current mental health crisis is not more mental health care? (Danielle Carr, 9/20)
After children across America, including mine, experienced uncertainty, loss聽and isolation during the pandemic, it is no surprise that so many parents are worried about the mental health of their kids.聽(Dr. Vivek Murthy, 9/20)
The number of Americans seeking mental health treatment is on the rise. According to the C.D.C., a 2021 survey found that nearly one in four adults ages 18 to 44 had sought mental health treatment in the past 12 months. (9/20)
America鈥檚 mental health crisis isn鈥檛 just about our unhappiness as individuals. It鈥檚 about the world we live in: our economy, our culture, our medical establishment. Americans have long treated mental health as a personal matter. But until we realize that society shapes our mental health and how we treat it, we won鈥檛 be able to feel better. (9/20)
Several years ago, when I was reporting on clinics for people in the earliest stages of psychosis, I met many young patients who were struggling to express what was happening to their minds. They described their condition as disabling, but it was still so new that it had not remade their identities or social worlds. (Rachel Aviv, 9/20)
A few months ago I received a referral for a new patient with a history of depression who鈥檇 made a serious suicide attempt. Perhaps unsure how to describe these episodes, the referring clinician wrote vaguely that the person had a 鈥渉istory of mental health.鈥 (Huw Green, 9/20)