Below is a summary of recent developments and compelling news stories from across the country highlighting America's broken mental health treatment system and how to fix it.
Treatment Advocacy Center in the News
To Repair Policing, Invest in Mental Health
Treatment Advocacy Center Executive Director John Snook published an op/ed in the New York Daily News calling for an overhaul of New York City’s mental health care system as part of its efforts to reform law enforcement. "If New York truly wants to make real reforms, it must take serious mental illness seriously," Snook wrote. Read more here.
Mental Health Solutions, Not Law Enforcement Action
Treatment Advocacy Center Executive Director John Snook was quoted in a Vice article on the need for cities to respond to mental health crises with mental health solutions, not police action. The article cited our "Road Runners: The Role and Impact of Law Enforcement in Transporting Individuals with Severe Mental Illness" report, which found that one in three people taken to hospital emergency rooms in psychiatric crises are brought there by the police. Read more here.
Mental-Health Advocates say
‘The Time is Now’ to Rethink Public Safety
Treatment Advocacy Center Executive Director John Snookwas interviewed about law enforcement interactions with people with severe mental illness for MarketWatch. Snook referenced the Treatment Advocacy Center's 2015 report Overlooked in the Undercounted in arguing that mental health crises should not be law enforcement matters. Read more here.
Am I My Brother’s Keeper: An Advocate’s Story
Treatment Advocacy Center Legislative and Policy Counsel Sabah Muhammad shared her story about loving and advocating for a brother with severe mental illness. In her story, she writes "When it comes to my brother, I will not take on more than I can handle, but that doesn’t mean I am not committed to the cause of mental health care reform. As an advocate, that means fighting to end the criminalization of mental illness and dismantle the legal barriers to treatment. That means shining a light on long-neglected solutions that would end the suffering for all people experiencing severe mental illness and their families." Read Sabah's story here.
The Experts Speak: How AOT Helps
Treatment Advocacy Center Policy Director Brian Stettin and advocate Eric Smith were interviewed by Sandy Dimiterchik from SARDAA on the benefits of Assisted Outpatient Treatment. Watch their informative interview here.
The Treatment Advocacy Center Responds
The Treatment Advocacy Center responded swiftly to the death of George Floyd and to recent calls to “defund the police” with separate statements enunciating our positions on racial injustice and the humane treatment of people with severe mental illness. Read our statements here and here.
RESEARCH WEEKLY: June Recap
DATAPOINT of the month
3.5-fold increase in psychological distress due to COVID-19
Almost 14% of Americans reported symptoms of serious psychological distress in April 2020 during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, according to new research from Johns Hopkins University. This represents a 3.5-fold increase compared to the same time period in 2018 when only 3.9% of Americans reported these symptoms. Serious psychological distress is not severe mental illness, but rather is a measurable research construct defined as mental health problems severe enough to cause moderate to severe impairment. However, the results indicate there will be a growing mental health treatment need in this country, which has significant implications for over-burdening an already strained mental health treatment system in the United States.
