Mental health is a topic of discussion that often makes Americans uncomfortable. In American culture, discussions about mental health co-occur with tension, awkwardness and an argument over the state of mental health care in the country.

It is also fair to note that the discussion of mental health in America is widely talked about only in the aftermath of a mass shooting or in the wake of a celebrity death.

The stigma around mental health care is only worsened by the words we use to describe mentally ill people: wacko, psycho, insane, etc. Society uses words like that to dehumanize the mentally ill and put them into a separate group in society. If the mentally ill are separate from the rest of society, society is then not responsible for the care and well-being of said people.

However, society has the most to benefit from an improved outlook on mental health. Fixing problems pertaining to mental health care in America would improve work productivity, save money and spare lives. If we continue to treat the mentally ill like a burden, the burden of untreated mental illness will continue to weigh down society.

Mental health care must be reformed to improve quality of life, increase work productivity, save America billions of dollars and save thousands of people from committing suicide every year.

1 in 5 adults experience mental illness in a given year in America. 1 in 5 youths aged 13-18 experience a mental disorder at some point in their adolescence. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, a little over 18% of Americans suffer from an anxiety disorder. That’s over 57 million people dealing with an anxiety-related mental disorder.

Due to lack of funding to rehabilitation centers and hospitals turning away mental illness patients, society has replaced the “hospital bed with a jail cell, the homeless shelter with a coffin” (Liz Szabo, USA Today). Over 42,000 Americans die by suicide each year. Suicide claims more lives a year than car accidents and homicide. The 2nd leading cause of death of people aged 15-24 is suicide and an estimated 18-22 veterans die by suicide a day.

In fact, most Americans will be affected by suicide at one point in their life.

Despite the statistics, mental illness is still viewed in a negative light. People are ashamed to discuss mental illness and are often blamed for their disorder. Mental illness is a not a sympathy-inducing disease. It is not a disease caused by aging, it develops in people during their adolescence or young adulthood. People don’t receive a “get well soon” card for being depressed or riddled with anxiety. By accepting the reality of mental illness in America, the nation can begin to solve the problems associated with it.

We must care for the mentally ill. We must care for humanity.