Mental health is essential to whole health; whole health is essential to well being
Health is the foundation for what we can achieve—as individuals, and as a nation. But too often, our systems and policies fail us, leaving many people with insufficient help.
Well Being Trust believes that the core of our problem is a disjointed response to disparate symptoms, rather than an interconnected response to a complex set of factors that together determine our well-being.
- One in five Americans suffer from mental health issues in a given year, and most of these people do not receive the care they need.
- Indirect cost of care and loss of productivity, mental health issues cost our society over $400 billion dollars annually. Which would be the same as giving about $1,250 dollars to every man, woman and child in the United States.
- And then there is the cost in human lives. Every day and average of 91 people die of a drug overdose. Every day an average 3,740 teenagers, between the grade of 9-12, attempt suicide. We have seen a 25% increase in suicide the last 15 years.
We must take a whole-person approach to well-being, and address a multitude of factors simultaneously, if we are to truly create a culture of health and wellness. Now is the time. It will take all of us doing our part—reducing mental health stigmas, advancing social support networks, and scaling up evidence-based models for care—to reduce projected increases in despair deaths and promote a society where everyone can achieve their fullest potential.