Our entire nation is embroiled in a mental health and addiction crisis that is spiraling further and further out of control. Deaths of despair — those involving alcohol, substance misuse, and suicide — have reached their highest levels on record. It’s a quiet epidemic festering just beneath the visible surface of everyday life, and it's wreaking havoc on American families.
This is the mental health equivalent of a five-alarm fire, and policymakers must urgently respond to the flames that threaten to engulf those closest to us. While this mass loss of life is senseless and tragic, policymakers, families, schools, and others should know that with adequate investment in prevention, timely access, and intervention, many of these deaths could have been avoided.
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