Mental Health
Mental health conditions refer to a broad spectrum of health conditions affecting mood, thinking and behavior. This includes depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, addiction, anxiety, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Each of these vary in severity, ranging from mild to moderate to severe, and may occur together. Mental health conditions, if untreated, can place limits on daily life activities.
Biopharmaceutical innovation for mental health treatments has helped millions of Americans live healthier, more productive lives. Researchers are pursuing novel strategies to help bring new medicines to patients.
And while the science is promising, more can be done to improve mental health care in the country, including growing America’s behavioral health workforce, expanding insurance coverage of mental health treatments and breaking the stigma of mental health conditions.
It is vital to recognize that mental illness can be a serious disease and ensure Americans have access to life-saving care.
https://cdn.aglty.io/phrma/DrMike_OverallMentalHealth_16x9.mp4
Facts about Mental Health in the U.S.
1 in 4
Almost 1 in 4 Americans live with a mental health condition.
<50%
Less than half of adults living with mental illness receive any treatment.
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness#part_2540
125 mil+
Over 125 million Americans live in areas with too few mental health professionals.
https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-workforce/shortage-areas/dashboard
Stigma is the biggest barrier to seeking treatment. 71% of adults who needed help, but didn’t seek it, reported it was because they felt they should “handle it alone.”
1 in 5
Nearly 1 in 5 children in America have been diagnosed with a mental, emotional or behavioral health condition.
https://www.cdc.gov/children-mental-health/data-research/index.html
Innovation in Mental Health Treatments
Researchers are leveraging a growing understanding of the brain to develop new treatments and bring therapeutic advances for patients who are not helped by current treatments. Studies are examining how medications work and identifying biomarkers that can be used to improve diagnoses, measure disease progression and assess a patient’s response to therapies.
But mental health treatment research and development has some of the lowest probabilities of success in drug development due to:
- Scientific complexities regarding mental health conditions and a need to better understand brain mechanisms underlying many of these illnesses
- Diverse nature of the diseases, which often manifest differently in different people
- Challenges in recruitment and retention of individuals with mental illness in clinical trials
There are currently over 160 promising mental health drugs in development.
Treatment works
When people get sick, they may need a medicine. Medications can do more than suppress symptoms. Medications, often paired with behavioral therapy, can improve quality of life, reduce relapses and prevent hospitalizations.
Camryn M., Texas
“I am a proud mom to three beautiful girls, and they have brought so much joy and happiness to my life. But like many new mothers, I dealt with postpartum anxiety and depression following their births. It is a scary feeling, but thanks to innovative treatments and medications available, my life, and the lives of many others, has changed for the better.”
Maya W., Florida
“I see a variety of patients from my work in mental health counseling and psychiatric care. While one medication may work for someone battling one mental health challenge, another patient with the same condition might not have the same results. It is imperative that new options continue to be found so that anyone who is suffering can find relief.”
Barriers to Treatment
Unfortunately, many patients suffering from mental health conditions do not seek treatment. There are four major steps that can be taken to improve mental health care in the U.S.:
Expand Access
Bolster America’s behavioral health workforce and expand access to care.
Over 125 million Americans live in areas with too few mental health professionals. This workforce shortage disproportionately affects rural areas. There is a need to increase qualified behavioral health workers through recruitment programs and other incentives such as ensuring competitive salaries in shortage areas. Equipping primary care and other providers to incorporate mental health into their routine practice can also help. Additionally, policy solutions should leverage and expand the appropriate use of telehealth, while ensuring safeguards to protect the quality of patient care.
Strengthen Insurance Coverage
Strengthen insurance coverage of mental health treatments.
More than 1 in 10 adults with mental health conditions report having no health insurance at all and nearly 40% of adults who did not receive mental health care were not covered for the treatments they required. Expanding coverage and access to comprehensive treatment is needed to adequately meet mental health challenges and improve the mental health benefit parity by extending parity requirements to Medicare and all of Medicaid.
Improve Care Coordination
Improve care coordination and delivery by enhancing integrated models of care to address both physical and mental health needs.
Mental and physical health are interconnected, and when they are treated together, outcomes improve. So, it is vital to advance policies to make it easier for mental and physical health care providers to work together in integrated models of care, such as expanding existing models that work and enhancing payment systems to ensure financial sustainability.
Break the Stigma
Break the stigma of mental illness.
People with mental health challenges often face social stigma or discrimination that can exacerbate an illness and delay recovery. Patients report stigma was the biggest barrier to seeking care - 71% of adults who needed help didn’t seek it — many felt they should “handle it alone.” Over one in ten (13.4%) adults believed that those around them would not approve of them if they sought help. We need to break the stigma so that our communities can have a better understanding of mental health conditions and patients feel comfortable seeking treatment.
The treatment of mental health has evolved
It’s important to look at the history of mental health treatment in our country and see how far we’ve come. The understanding of neuroscience, the pathology of mental health conditions, and effective treatment options have progressed tremendously.
Mental health treatment has evolved from inhumane institutionalization to comprehensive care that allows many patients to live quality lives.
1800s
- 1800s – Dorothea Dix documents the poor treatment of mentally ill patients in jails and hospitals and advocates for patients with mental illness. Dix plays an instrumental role in improving living conditions for the mentally ill and the expansion of mental hospitals across the US.
- 1844 – The association that would later become the American Psychological Association (APA) is established with a mission “to communicate their experiences to each other, cooperate in collecting statistical information relating to insanity, and assist each other in improving the treatment of the insane”
1900s
- 1908 – Clifford Beers writes his book “A Mind That Found Itself” to expose the maltreatment of people with mental illnesses and to reform care. A year later, the National Committee for Mental Hygiene was created.
1940s
- 1940s - Passage of the National Mental Health Act which made the mental health of the people in the U.S. a priority and established the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). It was during this time period that it was realized patients benefited more from evaluation and treatment rather than being institutionalized.
1950s
- 1952 – “Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders” was published, including 106 mental disorders.
- 1952 – Thorazine (chlorpromazine) first given to a patient for psychosis. Chlorpromazine became widely prescribed and played a pivotal role in the deinstitutionalization of those with mental health disorders. At this time, psychopharmacology began to make a major impact on the practice of American psychiatry with a re-emphasis on symptom-based treatment.
- 1955 – Ritalin (methylphenidate) was approved by the FDA and soon started to be used for treatment of children with ADHD-like symptoms (ADHD was not recognized until later years).
1960s
- 1963 – President John F. Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Act to reform the mental health care system. The Act shifted care from large institutions to community-based treatment centers.
1970s
- 1970 – The FDA approved the use of lithium for the treatment of mania and in 1974 for the maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder.
1980s
- 1987 – The FDA approved Prozac (fluoxentine), the first SSRI for the treatment of depression. This drug became pivotal in the treatment of depression, especially in an outpatient setting.
- 1989 – The FDA classified Clozaril (clozapine) as an antipsychotic. This approval gave rise to many antipsychotic drugs through the 1990s.
1990s
- 1996 – The Mental Health Parity Act (MPHA) was the first federal law to establish parity standards, but it only applied to annual and lifetime dollar amounts, meaning health plans and insurers could not impose lower maximum coverage amounts for mental health care than they did for physical health care over the course of a year or a person’s lifetime.
- 1999 – The Supreme Court found that keeping a person with a mental health condition in a psychiatric institution when treatment providers determined community-based care was appropriate violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. This landmark decision accelerated the shift toward community-based mental health care.
2000s
- 2008 – The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act was enacted to ensure health plans and insurers provide the same level of coverage for mental health and substance use disorders as they do for medical services.
- 2010 – The Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama, which included mental health as an Essential Health Benefit, meaning it must be covered by health plans, among other expansions.
Now
- Now – In recent years, the FDA has approved groundbreaking drugs for mental health conditions like post-partum depression and schizophrenia. Treatment options are science- and evidence-based and focus on helping patients manage symptoms and recover. The biopharmaceutical industry remains committed to delivering safe and effective mental health medicines to patients because all patients deserve access to treatments that can help them live a better life.
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