May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Healthcare and mental health are startlingly low priorities amid the global mental health crisis

Trigger Warning: this story contains content about suicide and drug-use.

America’s ability and willingness to treat mental health is lackluster, with the highest drug-related death rate in the world and a very high suicide rate. This is mainly due to the fact that America does not put as much emphasis on mental health professionals as many other countries do and, as such, not enough people are receiving treatment for their mental health problems.

According to the Commonwealth Fund, “Just one-third of U.S. primary care practices have mental health professionals on their team, compared to more than 90% in the Netherlands and Sweden.” This shows that people do not receive the amount of mental health care that is provided in similarly high-income countries. This means that, in spite of the immense strain that is placed on people, there are not systems in place to make mental health treatment accessible to everyone, even if it is needed, in the United States. 

There are also many barriers to mental health treatment that prevent people from attaining the treatment they need. As stated by the SSM Population Health Journal in a study conducted on Barriers to healthcare access among U.S. adults with mental health challenges, “The most prevalent barriers to healthcare access link to issues with affordability.” The study found that 42% of the population saw cost and poor insurance coverage as the top barriers for accessing mental health care, and 25% of Americans reported having to choose between getting mental health treatment and paying for daily necessities.

In addition to far distances for treatment and worries over judgment for seeking treatment, these factors all make it extremely difficult for a person to receive treatment while also seeing to their other, sometimes more immediate, personal needs. Even though a large portion of people need treatment, very few people are capable of receiving what they need because of these barriers. These barriers oftentimes cause people to either not seek out treatment, not be able to receive treatment, or lower it on their perpetual list of priorities in the long term. 

America is not effective at treating its citizens’ numerous mental health issues. If America can’t reduce the amount of stress it places on people, the nation should at least offer assistance to the people who support the circulation of its economy. There is enough money in circulation throughout the U.S. to create a program supporting mental health professionals in the workplace or in more local establishments, as numerous countries have done and as America is beginning to do. As of April 2023, according to Statista, the U.S. spends three times the amount that China spends on defense, plus a billion dollars. This equates to more than the other 13 highest spenders combined, plus $203.8 billion left over. It would be entirely possible to take some money out of that budget and put it towards health care, as well as making mental health an accepted and normal part of health care — just as normal as going to get a physical injury examined. While the United States has a lot of things going for it, health care and mental health treatment are not among them.