Persuasive Essay On Mental Health Funding

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Mental Health Funding Mental health is a subject a lot of people prefer not to talk about, which is a main reason that it is so underfunded. The severe underfunding affects not only the people suffering from mental illness, but also the government, the economy, and society as a whole. It is in the government's best interest to put more funding into mental health due to the health consequences on patients, including weight issues, drastic effects on bodily functions, and difficulties in pregnancy. As well as this, the amount of suicides per year is very high and so far, the treatments for mental health don’t work on all patients. Finally, depression results in a decline of a person’s work ethic and ability to properly work, and it would be …show more content…

The World Economic Forum asked a group of health economists to figure out the global costs and estimate the costs by 2030. Their estimate based on 2010 data showed mental disorders as the largest cost driver at $2.5 trillion in global costs in 2010 and projected costs of $6 trillion by 2030, The U.S. National Institutes of Health's yearly budget is only $31 billion. The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has an annual budget of $1.4 billion, which is a ten percent decrease when adjusted for inflation, meaning that there has been a drastic decrease in funding both clinical trials and regular treatment (Borenstein). Suicide led to about 40,000 deaths in 2011 (nearly the same number of deaths as breast cancer). However, depression (which leads to suicide) was the least-funded disease on the Vox.com chart. In contrast, breast cancer was the most well funded. Suicide was out funded by breast cancer by about 100 times (Goldenberg). The underfunding is affecting people drastically, and needs to be stopped in order to come up with more effective treatments and solutions for mental

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