Stigma has been a seemingly uphill battle for all who have experienced a mental health condition or who have known someone facing these challenges. The economic statistics shows that people should consider mental health seriously, for the sake of our economy.
Many advocate groups has started to promote social reform within mental health on a serious note.
Can increased funding yield positive outcomes?
Yes! it can. The state of California found that increasing funding and providing better access to mental health services within the university system yielded positive outcomes.
- The increase in funding led to over 300 additional graduates at schools where programs and funding were implemented
- The additional graduates would add $56 million in ‘societal benefit’ throughout the graduates’ lifetimes.
- Compared to the initial investment of $8.7 million in university mental health funding in California, this presents a significant return on investment.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports that only 23 of the 50 states have chosen to increase their state budgets for mental health in fiscal year 2015-2016.
What are the consequences faced in decreasing mental health investment?
- Untreated serious mental illnesses cost America over $193 billion in lost earnings each year.
- Those with a mental health condition have the highest student dropout rate among any other disability group, are more prone to homelessness, chronic health conditions, and criminal justice activity.
On a serious note, the mental health funding should receive more attention at least for the sake of economy.
Photo Credit: NAMI
Source: Forbes
