This Mental Health Awareness Month, let’s shift from self care to system change

It seems one of the few things that 90 percent of Americans will agree on these days is that we are in the midst of a mental health crisis. So, how can we translate this sentiment into concrete actions that improve mental health?

With Mental Health Awareness Month underway, there will surely be no shortage of articles promoting meditation apps, vacations and calming breath techniques. While individual-level interventions are necessary, they alone cannot achieve sustainable progress. It’s imperative that we shift our status quo away from its current web of policies and norms that neglect and penalize individuals who have mental health and substance use needs.

As the CEO of Mental Health Colorado, I lead our national Care Not Cuffs initiative to disentangle these needs from the criminalization system. Without adequate systems of care, we default to crisis response; too often, this entails arrest and processing through the criminal court system. This is precisely how prisons and jails became the primary mental health and addiction facilities in the U.S., even though they aren’t designed or staffed to meet those needs.

Incarcerated people with health needs are often met with responses that only make conditions worse, such as solitary confinement, a practice that is associated with greater risk of dying within a year of release from prison and increased risk of suicide. The costly, destabilizing repercussions of incarceration persist long after an individual has been released, often exacerbating the very issues that initially led to their involvement in the system.

With a criminal record comes immense obstacles to finding steady work or housing. Even one night spent in jail without a conviction can cause someone to lose their job. This inability to meet one’s basic needs has an adverse effect on mental and physical health, increasing the risk of disordered substance use and future interactions with law enforcement and the criminal courts. Thus, the cycle continues.

The impact isn’t limited to the individual, either. Entire families feel ripple effects as they grapple with the economic and emotional damage of having a unit broken up by incarceration. Self care may help, and is often essential, as a mitigating day-to-day set of practices. But we must strive toward a world where communities, especially those disproportionately impacted by incarceration, do not end up in these cycles in the first place.

Harsh treatment of individuals with health needs often begins long before courts get involved. Students with unmet health needs are frequently subjected to suspensions and expulsions in schools. Imagine a student who is struggling with homelessness or has a parent who is incarcerated and, as a result, is often disruptive in class. A suspension will likely set them further behind and make it harder to graduate and go on to higher education, creating an uphill battle for economic security. The suspension does nothing to address any of the underlying causes of the behavior.

Surface-level self care solutions are likely not enough for this student. What’s often really needed is access to culturally competent mental health care and to have their basic needs met in a stable home.

Words alone won’t make change. To effectively address the youth mental health crisis, we must allocate funding toward vital resources like school counselor and psychologist positions. Funding is also part of the solution to inhumane practices in prisons and jails like solitary confinement and restraints used to hold down inmates experiencing mental health crises. If we expect corrections departments to provide care-based alternatives, they must be staffed appropriately with professionals who can handle health needs.  

If cities and states invest in basic needs such as housing, affordable childcare, food access and a living wage, we can expect to see improved health and crime rates across the board. With basic needs met, people can find stability that promotes strong growth and can transform lives. We must end the intergenerational cycles of discrimination that have neglected basic requirements for health and well-being, making communities less safe and keeping generations of Americans from living up to their fullest potential.

It will always be important to establish a personal routine to support one’s own health, but self care practices can get exhausting in the face of a constant barrage of obstacles. Persistent reminders to slap on a face mask, take a deep breath, or light a candle won’t address the systemic issues that keep health and well-being out of reach for so many Americans.

We must change the narrative from taking care of ourselves to taking care of each other. Now is the time to start those conversations, and to make sure the people we elect to represent us know that this is a priority. When we consistently meet health needs with care, we will build healthier, safer communities populated with strong, thriving individuals.

Vincent Atchity is president and chief executive officer of Mental Health Colorado and leads the organization’s Care Not Cuffs initiative. He previously served as executive director of the Equitas Project, a national initiative that works to disentangle mental health and criminal justice and is now part of Mental Health Colorado.