1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experience mental illness in a given year, according to a 2018 report on mental health.
Nearly 45 million people in the U.S. suffer from mental illness and at least 10 million of these people suffer from serious mental illness. It is reported that in 2016 less than half of those suffering received mental health treatment and nearly 45,000 lost their lives to suicide — far more than the 19,362 who were victims of homicide in this country (The National Institute of Mental Health, 2018a, 2018b).
Suicide rates have steadily climbed, by 28 percent, since 1999, with Washington state carrying a relatively high suicide rate at 12.58 – 14.23 deaths per 100,000 compared with other states that are as low as 6.19 – 11.40 per 100,000. Women are more likely to seek help than men, and men are four times more likely to take their own lives than women (Regge, 2017).
Growing evidence shows that when people get help, it can reduce the long-term symptoms of their conditions. When people get help early, it can change their life’s trajectory. Typically, a person experiencing early episodes of a mental health condition faces long delays or financial barriers before getting treatment that helps. However, recent research shows that early intervention and treatment dramatically impacts the course of mental illness.
Many people do not have access to high quality counseling or may not even consider it an option for helping them to navigate the stressors they are experiencing. Due to rising costs of health insurance and out-of-pocket costs for health care many people are not able to afford mental health care. Often ability to access mental health services is tied to employment and there is a disparity in coverage of mental health services where often the visits are so expensive or limited to one to two visits to be essentially out of reach for many people. Well over half of the people who need mental health treatment do not receive it in any given year.
Additionally, since March 2020, in half a dozen studies with over 10,000 respondents, it was found that people were experiencing worse mental health problems than before the pandemic—high symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Up to half showed serious signs of depression (depending on the study), while up to 35 percent showed serious anxiety since the start of the pandemic. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.11.117
Since Inside Health Institute was formed in 2015 we have offered high quality mental health counseling to at-risk, marginalized, uninsured or underinsured populations (seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, people of color). Through sliding scale discounts we have given more than $30,000 in patient services, often through many staff and clinicians working pro-bono to make sure these high quality services are available to anyone who needs it.
Our Mental Health Care project goal is to hire additional mental health counselors in order to reach 200 new clients per year with low- and no-cost mental health visits. Our project plan is to offer an additional 100 hardship exemption visits in a year to our most in need community members, especially BIPOC, low-income, and veteran populations - those most at risk for poorer health outcomes. We currently offer a hardship exemption plan that allows those most in need and most at risk to receive our mental health services, regardless of their ability to pay. Our plan is to expand those hardship offerings in the next 12 months.
