Americans are not getting the mental health assistance they need during the worst pandemic of the last century, according to the inaugural State of the Nation’s Mental Health report released May 3 by Anthem.
For more than a year now, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has shaken the United States to its core, delivering one devastating blow after another and cracking the very foundations of our lives—mentally, physically, and emotionally. Add to that the stress of “a burgeoning alcohol and drug crisis…deep structural problems related to social injustice in our country,” and we have “a kind of perfect storm for mental health needs,” Charles R. Marmar, MD, chair of NYU Langone’s Department of Psychiatry, tells CNN.
Warning signs of what Dr. Marmar calls a “wave of devastation” due to the mental health consequences of COVID-19 have been mounting for some time. “There is a profound increase in the need for high-quality, accessible, equitable mental healthcare for all Americans. There is no question about that,” says Dr. Marmar.
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