Mental Health in America: Battling Stigma

Stat: 50%: The share of American adults with mental illness who don’t receive help for their disorders, often because of stigma.

Story: Stigma surrounds two growing public health problems in the United States: substance use disorder and suicide. In this episode of “Mental Health in America,” Sheri Doyle, who leads Pew’s substance use prevention and treatment initiative, and Allison Corr, from Pew’s suicide risk reduction project, discuss the rise in these disorders. We also hear from Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, who explains how stigma limits access to treatment, and from Abby Coulter, who shares her personal journey to receive methadone treatment. And Dr. Kimberly Roaten, a clinical psychologist at Parkland Health in Dallas, describes how the hospital is expanding access to care through universal suicide screening.

Related Resources

• The Implications of COVID-19 for Mental Health and Substance Use
• Biden’s Drug Czar is Leading the Charge for a ‘Harm Reduction’ Approach
• Suicide Risk Screenings Can Save Lives
• Suicide Is an Urgent Public Health Problem in America
• Anticipated Suicide Stigma, Secrecy, and Suicidality Among Suicide Attempt Survivors