[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 19, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H6875-H6878]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CHANGING MINDSET ON MENTAL HEALTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about mental health 
in general and the need for a different mindset about mental health and 
care in this country specifically. I stand up tonight for the countless 
family members, friends, and neighbors across the country as they 
endure struggles with mental health, either for themselves or for a 
family member.
  The number of Americans battling mental illness or disorder is not 
small. In fact, over one-half of adults will deal with mental health 
issues, and one in five children has or will have a debilitating mental 
illness.
  Suicide is now ranked as the second leading cause of death among 
children ages 10 to 14. Think about that: Suicide is the second leading 
cause of death.
  This is more than simply heartbreaking. We have a problem. That is 
nearly one death every 11 minutes.
  Suicide is a tragic outcome for people dealing with mental crises, 
but across the country, there are so many dealing in other ways, 
especially in the midst of this pandemic: working parents trying to 
make it through the day juggling; parents not working, trying to find 
ways to make ends meet; kids in remote school losing the opportunity 
for the social-emotional learning that is so critical for their 
development; and families juggling remote work and remote school at the 
same time. All of these have contributed to what is truly a mental 
health crisis in the country.
  In fact, as we think about it, in the same way that young kids and 
babies born during the Depression were forever known as Depression 
babies, it is very likely that this generation enduring the pandemic 
will be COVID babies throughout their lives. It will have an impact.

                              {time}  1945

  Beyond that we have the issues of mass violence. I live in Highland 
Park. Two weeks ago, we experienced something that no community should 
ever have to go through, but, unfortunately, too many communities have 
and continue to do so.
  Highland Park, Uvalde, we can go back to Sandy Hook, and so many 
others, it is too long a list to give a comprehensive naming of every 
single community that has suffered from mass violence.
  But, at its core, there is something about these kids committing and 
perpetrating these heinous crimes, monstrous crimes--if we can reach 
them at an earlier age, maybe we can reduce some of that violence.
  Nor is this an exhaustive list of all the things, all the aspects of 
mental health that affect people.
  We know that the pandemic has made all of us painfully aware of the 
inadequacies and inequalities of our mental health system. Too late in 
the process, our system steps in to deal with crises, rather than 
working on helping people have a strong and confident, healthful life 
and tackle challenges as they occur. We should be providing holistic 
mental healthcare and provide support early and often.
  At the baseline, Americans are experiencing anxiety and depression at 
higher rates, and the number of services available just aren't keeping 
up, putting a crisis on top of a crisis.
  For those already suffering from mental health issues, the pandemic 
has increased their symptoms, and experts worry that we will deal with 
the stressors and effects long after the official end of this pandemic.
  Everywhere I go, in my district, and around the country, I hear 
stories, some heartbreaking, some just simply frustrating, about 
people's struggles getting care for themselves and their loved ones. It 
is not a new problem.
  In fact, sharing just a couple of personal stories, my first 
experience of tragedy in the context of mental health, my best friend 
as a young child in elementary school, was a boy named David Segal. He 
was special, kind heart, a brilliant young man. As he aged, we moved 
apart in middle school. And then I learned that, at age 21, he took his 
own life.
  His parents were told that he felt as if he was locked in a box. He 
was so smart, and he could see the possibilities available to his 
friends. He wanted more than anything else what he saw everyone else 
had, but he knew that it would never be available to him because of the 
box in which he was locked in. His pain was unbearable and, at 21, he 
took his life.
  Years later, I lost a cousin, Jeff, whose pain was also all-
consuming. He tried many times to escape his pain. His family tried to 
help. We all tried to help. He sought therapy, but, again, that pain 
was so all-consuming that, ultimately, as a relatively young man, he 
died by suicide.
  Let me come back to the present moment. I have heard from the Ann & 
Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago that the pandemic has 
increased the severity of the mental health crisis in children.
  During the pandemic, suicide attempts jumped from a pre-pandemic 
level of two to three per month to two to three each and every day. 
Before the pandemic, Lurie Children's would get maybe 50 calls a week 
for new appointments. At the height of the pandemic, they were 
receiving 50 calls every single day.
  A third of clinicians are reporting a 3-month wait time for an 
appointment, if they even have the room to begin with. In many places, 
the wait is much, much longer. This massive mismatch of supply and 
demand impacts the quality of care those with appointments are able to 
receive.
  Providers have empathy and compassion fatigue, emotional exhaustion, 
and are less personal and less connected with their patients.
  Older Americans, some of the most vulnerable in our society, are at 
an increased risk. High levels of isolation increase their risk of 
depression, cognitive decline, and dementia. Already, 20 percent--20 
percent of those 55 or older typically experience some form of anxiety 
and depression to severe cognitive impairment.
  Additionally, mental health does not only afflict those who have been 
diagnosed, it touches many other parts of our society. In 2008, Thomas 
R. Insel, then the leader of the National Institute of Mental Health, 
estimated that mental illness costs our economy about $193 billion--
$193 billion each year in lost earnings.
  8.4 million Americans are providing about 32 hours of uncompensated 
care per week to those with mental healthcare needs, whether family or 
friends. Leaving mental illness unaddressed results in the increased 
incarceration of people with unmet mental health needs. Those dealing 
with stressors related to mental health are left more susceptible to 
the overuse of drugs and alcohol.
  Despite the pervasiveness of mental health issues, less than half of 
adults with any mental health condition received treatment in 2020. For 
Americans of color, the rate of those getting treatment is even less 
than the national average.
  I find the current landscape of mental health in America simply 
unacceptable. Every day we fail to take strong action to bolster mental 
healthcare services is another day closer to failing our friends, our 
family, our neighbors. That is why making access to the appropriate 
mental health resources cheaper and easier is critical.
  I want to share with you one example of how the mental health crisis 
affects one of our most important population groups, our youth.
  Last year, I received a letter from a high school senior outlining 
her findings about the disparities in mental health resources at her 
school. She highlighted the value placed on new gym flooring and new 
scoreboards, but the lack of investment in mental health counselors.
  She shared that they lost a classmate early in the year to suicide. 
She had also become more aware of so-called suicide websites and social 
media's influence on our children's mental health.
  I applaud the initiative of that high schooler writing to me and 
voicing her concern. Each of us has a responsibility to not only reach 
out for help, but to advocate for our neighbors who feel powerless and 
are left to struggle.

[[Page H6876]]

  Another story I want to share is that of a dear, young, beautiful 
woman, 19-year-old Orli Sheffey from my town. Orli was a light that 
shined brightly. In fact, her name means, my light.
  She was a tenacious journalist and beloved friend with a passion for 
the pursuit of truth and justice. She strongly believed in the need to 
provide mental health services, to the point where she was training to 
provide confidential peer counseling services to her classmates.
  Sufficient mental health services possibly could have saved Orli's 
life. Orli's time with us is not about how she left us, but it is about 
the impact she made while she was here, an impact that is still felt by 
so many today.
  No parent should lose their child at such a young age.
  We also lost Brian Kroeter's younger sister, Katie, who died by 
suicide at 25. She was completing her master's degree in social work 
and was active in the community with programs like Meals on Wheels. The 
family has carried on Katie's memory through their suicide prevention 
advocacy work and Brian's participation in the Bank of America Chicago 
Marathon in honor of his sister.
  Our unmet health needs reach from our youth to our Nation's heroes. 
When it comes to veterans who defend our Nation and our freedom, we are 
losing 22 to suicide every day.
  When it comes to our cops and firefighters, we fail to recognize that 
their on-the-job trauma is crushing to their mental health and well-
being.
  Jeff Smith was a Metropolitan police officer whose family lives in my 
district. He was dispatched to the U.S. Capitol on January 6 and 
suffered injuries, both visible and not, in defending us, in defending 
me that very day. His father shared with me that those injuries and the 
combination of the stigma around mental health and the lack of access 
to care contributed to his terrible loss.
  We must do better if we want to honor Officer Jeff Smith. We must do 
better if we want to honor our veterans, if we want to honor Orli 
Sheffey, and if we want to honor all those we have lost to terrible 
mental health issues of all stripes.
  Fortunately, I have some positive news to share that is giving me 
hope and optimism about this mental health crisis. Here in the House, 
we passed the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 
2022 to holistically address American's mental health and crisis care 
needs.
  One program I am glad this legislation will help strengthen is the 
National Suicide Prevention Hotline, which is now 988. Moving to the 
988 phone number is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for America to 
strengthen and expand an existing lifeline to everyone and ensure that 
everyone is aware of this new service.
  The nationwide number will allow people to call or text a trained 
crisis counselor who can provide critical help, whether it is thoughts 
of suicide, mental health, or a substance use crisis. No matter where 
you are in the country, a well-resourced 988 line will be able to:
  Connect a person in a mental health crisis to a trained counselor who 
can address their immediate needs and help connect them to ongoing 
care.
  Mitigate healthcare spending with more cost-effective early 
intervention.
  Help reduce the use of law enforcement to treat mental health issues.
  Meet the rising need for crisis intervention on a grand scale and, 
importantly, help end the stigma toward these seeking or accessing 
mental healthcare.
  The creation and launch of 988 fills me with hope and optimism that 
this will not be the last action we take. We will have to make sure 
that mental health resources are adequately funded for Americans and 
our healthcare providers, and properly managed if we want to see proper 
success.
  I will continue to fight for the belief that access to affordable 
quality healthcare is our right for every American, not just a reserved 
privilege for a select few.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Wild), 
a dear friend and colleague.
  Ms. WILD. Mr. Speaker, our Nation can be characterized by many great 
traits, hard work, discipline, grit, dedication, determination, 
selflessness, bravery, courage, strength, and a quest for success.
  We have a rugged streak of individualism, a desire to get things done 
by any means necessary, even if it means going it alone. These are 
admirable American traits and have made us who we are. But they are 
also why we are where we are on mental health.
  We Americans find it so difficult to ask for help; to show people we 
need support; to recognize that maybe we should not always go it alone.
  Our Nation is facing a mental health crisis, one which the 
unprecedented stress and uncertainty of the pandemic has forced into 
plain view, demanding to be addressed, to be seen, to be helped. And 
that, perhaps, may be the silver lining of the pandemic; that we have 
finally woken up and taken notice of this epidemic in our country.
  Just think about it: Healthcare providers were on the front lines of 
treating COVID-19 through waves and waves of patients, selflessly 
putting the needs of everyone else before themselves. In the early 
waves, when COVID-19 was still new, they were the only ones present to 
hold the hands of countless people as they passed from this world.
  Teachers, historically underpaid and overworked, putting together 
lesson plans to keep our children learning, while under the pressure 
of, what if my school is next? How will I protect my kids? As they see 
that yet another school is the recipient of thoughts and prayers.
  No occupation is spared. Law enforcement, firefighters, dentists, 
veterinarians, farmers.
  Young people just beginning their lives thrown for a loop by the 
pandemic--milestones they and their families had looked forward to, 
delayed or canceled, not being able to see friends and family members 
in person, the anxiety of entering a world changed almost overnight, 
trying to find a new normal.
  Parents, who served triple duty, caretaker, teacher, breadwinner, all 
while trying to keep their families safe and healthy.
  We have all experienced grief and loss in one way or another over the 
last 3 years. Some of us lost family and friends; some lost businesses 
or their health, and some of us experienced extreme isolation, anxiety, 
and stress. But we all experienced something.
  Our strength as Americans isn't just rooted in our individual 
discipline, selflessness, bravery, or courage, but in our collective 
ability to take care of one another.

                              {time}  2000

  That is why I am so passionate about mental healthcare, making it 
more accessible, affordable, and available.
  During last year's appropriations bill, I successfully fought for an 
increase of $530 million for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration, our most important Federal agency for 
supporting mental health and combating the addiction crisis.
  For our healthcare providers who have for so long taken care of us 
with so little support for their own care, I introduced the Dr. Lorna 
Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, a bill that provides funding 
to reduce and prevent suicide, burnout, and mental and behavioral 
health conditions among healthcare professionals. I am very proud to 
say that it passed through the Senate and has been signed into law by 
President Biden.
  The bill is named for Dr. Lorna Breen, an emergency room doctor, who 
worked on the front lines of the pandemic and died by suicide in the 
spring of 2020. I am so proud to say that this bill was signed by 
President Biden this past spring.
  For students on college campuses, I have introduced and passed 
through the House the Enhancing Mental Health and Suicide Prevention 
Through Campus Planning Act, focusing on promoting positive mental 
health among college students, and encouraging college leaders to 
engage in comprehensive planning efforts to prevent suicide on college 
campuses. I am now focused on getting that through the Senate and 
signed into law.
  During this time of extreme stress for our young people, our colleges 
and universities need resources to reach out to students and to better 
support their mental health.
  Our young children have, unfortunately, not been spared from the 
mental health crisis. Suicide rates in young

[[Page H6877]]

children have been climbing, and the leading method has become by 
hanging, with information found online.
  There is no reason for young children to be able to find directions 
on how to tie a noose on YouTube. I have been working to hold YouTube 
accountable and to bring down those videos.
  Our children deserve to grow up in a world that encourages them to be 
both strong and determined and able to ask for help and lean on their 
support systems. We all deserve that.
  Finally, we must make sure that our mental health professionals are 
respected, that people are encouraged to go into that profession, and 
that that profession is fairly compensated.
  We have a shortage of mental health professionals that is hurting our 
country, hurting our communities. We, as individuals, and together as 
communities, are so much stronger when we have support systems in place 
to reinforce our strength, to help us bounce back, and to be resilient.
  We can do this, but we have to work together. We have to admit our 
vulnerabilities, and we have to put all politics aside as we work on 
this critical issue.
  Mr. SCHNEIDER. Thank you for your remarkable words, for sharing your 
perspective and expressing compassion I think we can all share.
  It is now my privilege to recognize my friend from Michigan, 
Representative Elissa Slotkin.
  Ms. SLOTKIN. Thank you, Representative Schneider, for your 
leadership.
  I rise today to honor the struggle that so many parents who must do 
the unimaginable have gone through, to grieve the loss of a child. As 
an Army wife and a former CIA officer who worked alongside the military 
on three tours in Iraq, I have watched many parents send their kids off 
to war, and, unfortunately, many did not return.
  For the families left behind, not only does the hole in their hearts 
never heal, but the ripple effect of that loss is also vast. The 
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS, estimates that for 
every Active Duty servicemember killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, six 
family members are significantly impacted. This is the devastating 
collateral impact of combat.
  But our communities in the United States, our high schools and 
colleges, are not supposed to be war zones. For many of us adults, we 
look back fondly on those years as a time for liberation and new 
opportunities for work, study, and play, for learning new things, and 
for growing up.
  So when a parent sends their child into the world full of hopes and 
dreams for the future, they do so with visions of challenging classes 
that expand their horizons, friendships that will define their lives, 
Saturday tailgates, and spring break in sunshine.
  Most importantly, they send them off with the full and complete 
assumption that they will safely come back home.
  But what we don't often think about is the incredible crisis of 
mental illness and emotional turmoil that so many young people today 
endure.
  Our students are struggling. They are fighting internal battles that 
even their closest friends and their parents do not see until it is 
much too late.
  Even before the pandemic up-ended our lives, we were already facing a 
mental health crisis for young people. At this point, crisis is not the 
right word. It is not strong enough.
  Mental health experts and researchers use the term epidemic to 
describe where we are with mental health challenges facing U.S. high 
school and college students.
  According to the National College Health Assessment, the most common 
mental health issues facing adolescents are depression, anxiety, 
suicidal ideation and intent, eating disorders, and substance abuse.
  It is not easy getting help for any of those, navigating scarce 
mental health resources as a newly independent and struggling young 
adult.
  Even if a student tries to take steps to get help, there is a 
tremendous lack of services in our community, in our colleges, at our 
universities. On college campuses, the ratio of certified counselors to 
students is generally between 1 to 1,000 or 1 to 2,000 for small and 
moderate-size schools and 1 to 2,000 or 3,000 to 5,000 for large 
universities.

  Far too often, the outcome is tragic as it has been for dear friends 
and even some of my colleagues here in Congress who have lost their 
children to mental health issues.
  In the past year and a half, one of my superintendents, Dr. Bob 
Shaner, a Marine veteran, he and his family lost their son in his 
freshman year of college. More recently, my friend, Steve Sheffey and 
the Sheffey family lost their beloved daughter, Orli, a young woman who 
wanted to change the world.
  It has become so common for me to get those terrible calls that it is 
nearly commonplace. It is, therefore, up to us to make sure we do 
something to change the system so that we honor their legacy. But we 
need to start early because we know that the problem doesn't just 
appear in college or after high school.
  In my district in Michigan, one county alone has had a 300 percent 
increase in demand for child psychiatric services in the past 2 years 
and virtually no inpatient beds to offer them. It is not just the sheer 
volume of demand that has increased but also the acuity of distress for 
individual patients.
  Right now, in our country when it comes to mental health and young 
people, there is a tsunami of need and only sandbags to meet it.
  You may know the now infamous name of a community in my district: 
Oxford, Michigan. In November of 2021, Oxford joined the terrible club 
that no one wants to be a part of, the list of districts where a school 
shooting has taken place.
  Like we have seen so many times in the past, the tragedy in Oxford is 
rooted in the toxic combination of mental health issues and access to 
weapons. Because of that, four students are dead and a community, 
including the police, fire, first responders, and teachers who were in 
the building that day are forever traumatized.
  We must do better for the students of Oxford, for Orli, for every 
student and every parent. We must train providers in trauma-based care, 
increase access to mental healthcare services, treat mental illness 
like physical health so that we understand that the issues and ailments 
that affect us from the neck up are just as important as the ones that 
affect us from the neck down.
  We must improve insurance coverage for mental health services and 
reframe the entire conversation around what it really means to be 
healthy. The tasks are daunting, but the consequences of inaction, the 
collateral damage of this battle, are even greater.
  In closing, I offer a prayer often recited when mourning the loss of 
a child:

       May it bring comfort to the hearts of those who grieve, and 
     may it inspire all of us to keep their memories in the 
     forefront of our work.
       A good person, though taken from us too soon, will rest in 
     peace.
       For honor in old age, does not come from the length of 
     life.
       Honor in old age does not come from the length of years.
       Understanding is the gray hair of humanity.
       A blameless life is ripeness of age.
       Perfection in limited years is like living for many years.
       So a good person, though taken from us too soon, will rest 
     in peace.
       Let us, then, with peace of mind, let that good soul rest.

  Mr. SCHNEIDER. Thank you, Representative Slotkin. Thank you for those 
beautiful words. Thank you, Representative Wild.
  We have a national crisis. It needs a national response. We are a 
caring Nation. It is reflected in the outreach across the Nation when a 
community is struck by tragedy, whether it is a mass shooting or a 
flood, hurricane, whatever the case may be.
  We see it in the response of individuals lending a helping hand when 
they see someone fall on a curb or down a stair. It is who we are as a 
people. We need to extend that when we think about our mental health 
crisis and mental healthcare. We have to do so much to try to address 
the stigma.
  In the same way, if you think of a world-class athlete who is trying 
to achieve their highest potential, no one says going to seek 
assistance of a coach or advice of a friend is a shortcoming.
  When it comes to dealing with the challenges of life, too often that 
outreach for assistance, that simple ask, help me get through this 
moment, isn't made because people are afraid of how they will be 
judged. Yet, even if we address the stigma, we still have the

[[Page H6878]]

challenge of access as we talked here tonight--not enough providers, 
not enough quality services.
  Everyone in this country deserves access to quality, affordable, and 
available care. We need to make sure that we are investing in training 
providers to provide services across our country and making sure that 
those services are available at a price that people can truly afford.
  We need to recognize that care for our mental health is every bit as 
important as care for our physical health. Think about it. If a child 
is diagnosed with cancer at a young age, we have poured billions of 
dollars into research to try to cure those cancers, and we are 
investing thousands, if not millions of dollars, in treating 
individuals and having great results. Kids with cancer today have a 
much higher likelihood of beating that cancer back and reaching their 
full potential.
  The same is true for diseases we might face in middle age or even 
treating our seniors. We are working so hard to address that. We need 
to do the same for mental health and mental healthcare.
  We need to recognize that the care for a challenge, a mental health 
challenge, is every bit as real and deserves every bit as much 
investment as the care for a physical health challenge.
  We are a caring Nation. We know we have a crisis. I am hopeful that 
this body will continue to do its work to try to address this crisis 
for the people we represent.
  I am grateful for the great words, kind words, insightful words, 
compassionate words of my colleagues, and I am thankful for the work of 
this body.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________