John, 

I hope you and your loved ones are doing well. If not, please feel free to reach out and let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.

I wanted to send you this note today because I know this crisis is putting extraordinary burdens on our mental health. There are many structural challenges in American life today that this pandemic is bringing to the forefront; lack of resources to address and care for the mental health of Americans across the country is one of them.

Indeed, it is an avoidable failure of leadership in this country that we simply haven’t done enough to address mental health issues—for everyone from our troops returning from war to young people who are struggling at school.

We need to make mental health care routine and accessible. We should all be advocating for that. That’s why I’m working to make 988 the national hotline for mental health emergencies, and it’s why I amended last year’s Defense bill to require post-combat mental health checkups for service members.

For those struggling with their mental health today, a 988 hotline and federal funding for essential mental health services may be too far away. So I want to share a helpful resource that’s available right now: the National Institute of Mental Health website.

So many things about this crisis are putting a strain on us. For those on the frontlines and their families, they are bearing unthinkable burdens. For those of us who are working from home, we are all trying to adjust to the new normal with limited social contact and a lot of bad news in the world. And, of course, the weight of wondering what comes next is not easy.

So please share the resources I’m sharing with you. Take a (socially distant) walk outside. Cook yourself a nice meal. Do whatever it is you can do to try to take care of yourself and your mental health during this challenging time for all of us. And make sure loved ones and neighbors are doing the same.

We will get through this. And my team and I will be with you every step of the way.

Seth