“Eli, Eli, lama azav tani? My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”
—Psalm 22:2
I am not alone.
I am not an anomaly.
I am one of many.
We are human.
The quantifiable evidence to support my story and the shared experience of the men, women and children who are living with the same reality as I am both in America and globally has been documented and debated in the public’s discourse for decades with no great avail.
Here are the latest key findings and state rankings of Mental Health America, which was founded in 1909 as one of America’s leading community-based nonprofits dedicated to addressing the needs of those living with mental illness and addiction.
Addiction is a trauma response.
Their reports are both staggering and tragic, especially in the year 2023. (We are now in the year 2025.)
Here are some of their key findings:
- 21% of all adults in America are experiencing a mental illness.
- This is equivalent to over 50 million Americans.
- 15% of adults have a substance use disorder.
- In the past year, 93.5% percent did not receive treatment.
- The percentage of adults reporting serious suicidal thoughts are 4.8%.
- 11% of adults who identified with two or more races reported serious thoughts of suicide.
- 16% of youth report suffering from at least one major depressive episode in the past year.
- More than 2.27 million youth are experiencing severe major depression.
- 55% of adults with a mental illness receive no treatment—over 28 million individuals.
- 11% of adults with mental illness are uninsured (over 5.5 million).
I am not an anomaly.
The greatest experts in academics from our leading, world-renowned institutions have tried to solve this dilemma and they have failed me and countless other individuals and families for many years now.
In the U.S. there are 350 individuals for every one mental health provider.
I can personally testify that the gap and lack of accessibility for quality care, long-term mental health treatment for the most vulnerable citizens in America today who are underserved, underrepresented and “hidden in plain sight” is even more desperate and disparaging.
Mental illness is just as serious as cancer. But with mental health there is stigma. And with that stigma comes indifference, intolerance and a lack of humanity and compassion toward the most vulnerable citizens both in America and across the globe.
The fact is if you have government insurance and not a premium health insurance plan in America, your chances of receiving comprehensive quality mental health care that is safe, trauma-informed and long-term from an experienced provider is less than 1%.
According to the MHA, 28% of all adults with a mental illness reported that they were not able to receive the treatment they needed. Most reported they did not receive care because they could not afford it. Sixty percent of youth with major depression do not receive mental health treatment. Twenty-three percent of adults who report experiencing 14 or more mentally unhealthy days each month were not able to see a doctor due to costs.
Mental illness is acute.
The long-term suffering in a person’s life even with treatment is a hard journey to endure. Without treatment, it is a death sentence.
I am one of many.
As an artist with a documented disability, I am both a survivor and a victim.
I share this suffering with all of the American people and the global citizens around the world who, like me, radically accept the unacceptable every day.
We are human.
Human beings are not commodities and the budget is very important. How do we create resources that are effective enough to fix this cruelty and the prolonged suffering of so many citizens domestically and around the world who are experiencing unspeakable pain right now?
Where are the leaders that understand their legal and ethical reasonability to do the right thing for the most vulnerable citizens among us who suffer silent cries of desperation without any lifeline to hold on to?
Can we put human lives first? And then figure out a robust budget for all of the most pressing social justice issues in our world today?
How can we afford not to?
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