Vision for Change: A Campaign for Wellness in America

IF… parents had to give up custody of their children for them to receive treatment for cancer…If people with heart disease ended up on the streets or in prisons because they couldn’t get help…If businesses lost billions of dollars due to avian flu…If 30,000 people died each year due to airplane accidents…

This nation would demand action.
When it comes to mental health disorders, there are no “ifs.” Loss of child custody, homelessness, incarceration, lost productivity, and an epidemic of suicide are realities in communities across the country. Mental health is fundamental to overall health and research confirms the link between mind and body and demonstrates that mental illnesses are treatable when individuals have access to appropriate services.

We call on Congress to embrace our Vision for Change and make mental health a national priority to ensure wellness for all Americans.

Our Vision for Change:

1. Eliminate discrimination in access to mental health care.
2. Invest in research, prevention, recovery and consumer-led strategies that improve the quality of care for individuals with mental illness.
3. Invest in children’s health and emotional development.
4. Promote adoption of research on effective treatments and individualized care into routine clinical practice.
5. Promote a holistic approach to wellness by integrating behavioral and primary health.

Over 3,000 individuals and 200 organizations have already called for action by signing onto Mental Health America’s national petition drive. Please join me in this important effort by adding your name to the petition today!