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Mental Health and Addiction Crises Will Worsen During Pandemic Without Better Policy

April 20, 2020

In January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced some hopeful news when it reported a slight uptick in U.S. life expectancy following years of decline largely due to historic rates of overdoses and suicides.

Sadly, COVID-19 has the potential to reverse serious progress made in addressing our nation's mental health and addiction crises — particularly around overdose rates — unless policymakers mitigate the pandemic's serious effects on behavioral health in the next stimulus package.


Lawmakers must understand mental health care for what it is: an integral part of overall health care. Science shows that mental health affects physical health, and we know whole-person care is critical to longevity. Treating the body and mind separately has cost too many lives already. Unfortunately, our policymakers have followed this old pattern in the recent emergency COVID-19 bills.