Mental health research featured in President Biden's State of the Union
America's growing mental health crisis - and a multi-step plan for responding to it - were among the topics US President Joe Biden highlighted this week in his first State of the Union address.
"Let's take on mental health," he urged, "especially among our children, whose lives and education have been turned upside down."
He was referring to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of several major events that dominated the March 1st speech, including the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine and the US economic slowdown.
Mr. Biden touched on what his administration describes as a strategy to address the "unprecedented" national mental health crisis. That plan is part of a "unity agenda" centered on policies "where there has historically been support from both Republicans and Democrats."
"Two out of five adults report symptoms of anxiety and depression," said a White House statement released ahead of the president's appearance. "And Black and Brown communities are disproportionately undertreated - even as their burden of mental illness has continued to rise."
"Even before the pandemic, rates of depression and anxiety were inching higher. But the grief, trauma and physical isolation of the last two years have driven Americans to a breaking point."
As part of the response, the president's plan calls for millions of dollars to fund mental health research.
"There is a pressing need for research to validate what works and build a robust evidence base," the White House said, adding that Mr. Biden's fiscal year 2023 budget will "call for investing $5 million in research into promising models for treating mental health conditions."
The plan also proposes at least $5 million to study the harms social media can cause, particularly to young people, as well as "clinical and societal interventions we might employ to address them."
Last December, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General, declared a mental health crisis among US youth in a rare advisory report. He cited the impact of both social media and the COVID-19 pandemic on young people.
"Our youth have been particularly impacted as losses from COVID and disruptions in routines and relationships have led to increased social isolation, anxiety and learning loss," the White House noted this week.
The MQ Foundation welcomes President Biden's approach. It aligns with our own mission: to raise funds for mental health research, an area too long underfunded in the US and around the world.
"Research gives us the evidence we need to identify, treat and prevent mental health conditions using methods with proven results,"
Said John Herrmann, the founder and chairman of the MQ Foundation. "That's vital to charting a course out of this crisis."
MQ has supported projects linked to the concerns raised in the president's speech, including research into the impact of social media on teenagers' mental health.
Young people are just one group Mr. Biden's plan aims to help. Veterans are another. But ultimately, it's based on a vision that's as broad as the country itself.
"Let's get all Americans the mental health services they need," he said.
