In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden spoke about mental health concerns in America and attributed a portion of the cause to social media. To combat this, Biden’s plan includes requiring insurance companies to offer better coverage and increasing access to mental health resources. Experts say his proposal has potential if fully implemented, but will it be enough, or should we address the root of these problems instead of focusing on access to temporary solutions? As the news cycle floods with bad news, horror stories, and tragedies, Americans struggle to identify and attach themselves to hope for the future.
What’s In Biden’s Plan?
The Biden administration released the details of its strategy to address the crisis in an America worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions. Plans include expanding the mental healthcare workforce, concentrating on children, pressing insurance companies to improve coverage, and establishing a crisis-care response system.
Joe Biden (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“We have needed a bold national strategy for a long time, and we’re just pleased to see that the administration is taking this opportunity. This has been long in coming,” says president and CEO of Mental Health America, Schroeder Stribling. Since the Carter administration, the federal government has for the most part passed the responsibility of mental health policy to the states.
The new mental health crisis hotline coming this summer will connect crisis professionals with struggling Americans, helping them avoid going to the emergency room, working to diffuse a situation within a family, or connecting someone with proper resources after talking through a problem. Local mental health clinics would also receive permanent federal funding with this plan.
The Biden administration also wants to require “robust behavioral health services,” which will provide every individual with commercial insurance three behavioral visits a year without paying a copay. Through scholarships, training, and loan forgiveness, investments are also on the table to encourage Americans to join the mental health workforce.
These components of the president’s plan are “solution” oriented, attempting to help already struggling Americans. The only main section focused on prevention is the vague efforts to address social media’s harmful effects on kids’ mental health. It is much needed, especially given the rising rates of suicide, anxiety, and depression among adolescents. Attempted suicide by young girls is up 51%, with experts attributing the increase to social media. However, this aspect of the agenda will require long-term research and further legislation that must pass through Congress to mitigate the adverse impacts of social media. Therefore, we may not see regulatory change for a few years.
Preventing the Struggle
Advocates and experts are pleased with the specifics of the initiatives; however, they are reserved in celebrating just yet. The success of Biden’s agenda depends on congressional support for funding and regulation. Stripling also addressed the need for long-term solutions, saying, “This cannot be a one-time intervention from the federal level… This must be a sustained and broad-based response.” She cited the ongoing COVID-19 issue as one of many reasons for a long-term mindset in putting these ideas on paper. The effects of the pandemic and its restrictions are expected to impact Americans for years.
Reservations also come from a need for prevention. We must appreciate anything and everything the government contributes to the fight against mental illnesses, lending a helping hand to fraught Americans. But how can we keep Americans from struggling in the first place?
Preventing The Problem
When asked the causes of this uptick in mental health symptoms among a growing number of Americans, the finger is pointed in several directions. One more controllable culprit maybe the news.
In this age of technology, the news is everywhere. We are constantly bombarded by CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, BBC, the AP, and every other news source through social media, the television, notifications on your phone, or in your texting group chats. Americans are hit at all times with live updates of sad, scary, depressing, and bad news. Tragedy after tragedy fills the headlines, with positive, hopeful, uplifting stories hard to find. It’s hard to be optimistic and happy when you are reminded of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising gas prices, inflation, the war in Ukraine, and crime rates every waking hour.
President Biden’s plan, if fully implemented, could save lives and help. However, perhaps the focus of our government and our society needs to be on deterrence. We must address why this is happening and what we can do to break this cycle, keeping Americans from falling into a pit of anxiety and depression.
~Read more from Keelin Ferris.
