“We’ve been waiting for something like this”

“We’ve been waiting for something like this”

Posted on December 9, 2021

The U.S. has been grappling with a rise in anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions. The government announced plans to tackle it head-on, with Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issuing a public advisory that flagged a “mental health crisis” among young people. The rise in mental health issues and suicides predates the pandemic. Still, the announcement represents the first time mental health has been identified at the federal level as a public health crisis. “We’ve been waiting for something like this,” said Jennifer Rothman, senior manager of the youth and young adulthood initiatives task force at NAMI. “The more leadership that speaks up and calls to the importance of looking at mental health as an overall health concern, the more people want to step up and help. It’s on all of us to make mental health more of a priority, because our kids are suffering.”