Mental Health Accessibility Quotes

Half the counties in America have no psychiatrists, psychologists or psychiatric social workers--none.

In 1993, when I landed in Zimbabwe, there were just 10 psychiatrists in that country of 10 million people. Nine of the 10 were foreigners who spoke no regional language.

One of the things we need to do is address mental health care as an integral part of primary care. People often aren't able to navigate a separate system, so you see successful models where a primary care physician is able to identify, diagnose, and concurrently help people get mental health treatment who have mental health issues.

With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, more people will have insurance coverage and, in principle, be eligible for more care.

Most of the people who make decisions about global health are in the U.S. and Western Europe. There, the mental health care system is dominated by highly trained, expensive professionals in big hospitals, who often see patients over long periods of time. This simply can't be done in rural Africa or India. Who the hell can afford that kind of care?

In black and brown communities especially, mental health is not normalized. No one talks about that kind of thing.

The difference in the quality of medical care received by people with mental illness is one of the reasons why they live shorter lives than people without mental illness. Even in the best-resourced countries in the world, this life expectancy gap is as much as 20 years. In the developing countries of the world, this gap is even larger.

We strive for equality and equality in mental health matters as much as anything else. I see it as an imperative, not a choice.