Throughout Nationwide Psychological Well being Consciousness Month, we acknowledge the bravery and resilience of the tens of thousands and thousands of Individuals dwelling with psychological well being situations, and we present our gratitude for the devoted psychological well being professionals and devoted family members who stand by them each step of the best way. Psychological well being care is well being care, and my administration will make sure that each American has the care they should thrive — we have now your again.
Having the ability to get well being care while you want it’s important to dwelling a full, productive and wholesome life — that goes for psychological well being care too. Psychological well being care will help folks discover pleasure and goal; guaranteeing they’ve entry to the care they want is about dignity. However for thousands and thousands of Individuals, psychological well being care is out of attain. In 2020, lower than half of all adults with a psychological sickness analysis acquired look after it. It’s worse for youths — almost 70% of kids who want psychological well being care can not get it. Think about being a mother or father looking for a method to assist their baby however by no means discovering it, regardless of how exhausting they appear. That is an all-too-common expertise as many Individuals face psychological well being challenges: Two in 5 adults report experiencing nervousness or despair, and suicide is a number one reason behind demise amongst younger folks. We all know that psychological well being therapy works, however we have to make it extra accessible and inexpensive for all Individuals.
That’s the reason, as president, I’ve taken steps to dramatically broaden entry to psychological well being care in America. I signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — the most important funding in youth psychological well being ever, and we’re investing $1 billion of that funding to assist faculties throughout the nation rent and practice new psychological well being counselors. We additionally added greater than 140 licensed group behavioral well being clinics throughout the nation, which serve everybody no matter their means to pay and supply a spread of companies, together with 24-hour disaster help. We launched 988, the Nationwide Suicide and Disaster Lifeline, which anybody can name, textual content or chat to be linked to a educated disaster counselor. Additional, my administration developed new assets to help the psychological well being and resilience of frontline staff; expanded Medicare protection to incorporate further substance use dysfunction companies and broaden psychological well being companies; made it simpler for faculties to leverage Medicaid to ship psychological well being care to thousands and thousands of kids and youth; and invested in psychological well being applications that assist service members and veterans in addition to their households, caregivers and survivors.
We’re additionally working to make sure full psychological well being parity in order that psychological well being care is roofed the identical as bodily well being care. We now have proposed requiring medical health insurance plans to determine the gaps within the psychological well being care they supply, and in the event that they discover they don’t seem to be protecting psychological well being care on par with bodily well being care, to make modifications to repair it. Lastly, we’re taking motion to make sure that state and native authorities workers have the identical psychological well being parity protections as thousands and thousands of different Individuals who get medical health insurance from their jobs, which is why we’re working to shut loopholes so these devoted public servants can extra simply entry the psychological well being care they want with fewer limits on care and decrease co-pays.
On the similar time, my administration is working to finish the opioid and overdose epidemic by cracking down on fentanyl trafficking and rising public well being efforts to avoid wasting lives. This month, we rejoice absolutely the braveness of the Individuals in restoration and reaffirm our dedication to look after these struggling.
My administration may also maintain preventing to finish the youth psychological well being disaster — and which means addressing social media’s contributions to it. I proceed to name on the Congress to limit the private information that firms acquire, ban promoting that targets minors and take motion to make sure that social media platforms prioritize the well being and security of our nation’s youngsters.
Every certainly one of us has a job to play in altering the narrative and ending the stigmatization of psychological well being points. We are able to begin by exhibiting compassion so everybody feels free to ask for assist and studying the warning indicators of emotional misery and suicide. If you’re dealing with a disaster, dial 988 to achieve the Nationwide Suicide and Disaster Lifeline. If you’re a brand new or anticipating mom, you possibly can name 1-833-TLC-MAMA for confidential recommendation on psychological well being from knowledgeable. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or simply want somebody to speak to, ask your well being care supplier, contact the Substance Abuse and Psychological Well being Providers Administration’s nationwide helpline at 1-800-662-HELP, or go to FindSupport.gov. To anybody scuffling with psychological well being, know that you’re not alone. As Individuals, we have now an obligation of care to achieve out to at least one one other and go away nobody behind. We’re all on this collectively.
Now, due to this fact, I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., president of the US of America, by advantage of the authority vested in me by the Structure and the legal guidelines of the US, do hereby proclaim Might 2024 as Nationwide Psychological Well being Consciousness Month. I name upon residents, authorities companies, non-public companies, nonprofit organizations and different teams to affix in actions and take motion to strengthen the psychological well being of our communities and our nation.
In witness whereof, I’ve hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of April, within the 12 months of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the US of America the 2 hundred and forty-eighth.