NYAPRS Note: When addressing solutions to crises, the transformative impact of prevention can often be undermined by the need for immediate solutions to tragedy. Preventing crises in youth and at the beginning of episodic needs begins with access and wellness activities, and are ultimately dependent upon continued connectivity between individuals and various support networks. It is appropriate that, at the end of Mental Health Month, the theme for this final blog entry from SAMHSA’s Paolo del Vecchio emphasizes the need for a turn in our national mental health dialogue toward prevention.
The Power of Prevention
SAMHSA; Paolo del Vecchio, 5/28/2014
SAMHSA’s National Suicide Prevention Lifeline answered over 1 million calls in 2013. One of those calls was from a 15-year old named Jackie. Later, after her crisis had passed, she contacted us. Jackie said, “You guys have saved my life. I am 15 years old and was going through a rough time. … A lady named Denise saved my life. After a failed attempt a couple days ago, I was going to try again. But she helped. A lot. A complete stranger saved my life. I would love to thank you and your staff and everyone who is a part of this for saving me. I now see life differently, things will get better.”
Prevention is powerful. Preventing behavioral health problems before they occur means fewer tragedies and despair, less disability, and lower social and economic costs. It also means young people like Jackie have a second chance at life. We know that half of adult mental disorders begin before age 14 and three-quarters of adult disorders occur before age 24. That’s why SAMHSA’s focus on prevention, especially for young people, is so important.
Here are a few other examples of SAMHSA’s focus on prevention:
- Project LAUNCH – which focuses on families with children ages 0-8 to promote healthy emotional development
- SAMHSA’s Wellness Initiative – which is designed to promote health and wellness for people with serious mental illnesses in order to reduce early mortality and costly co-morbid health conditions.
- SAMHSA’s National Prevention Week�this observance, one week every May, is a SAMHSA-supported annual health observance dedicated to increasing public awareness of, and action around, substance abuse and mental health issues.
Prevention and wellness are some of the cornerstones to improving the nation’s health and priorities within the Affordable Care Act. Because of the law, most health plans must now cover preventive services like depression screening for adults and children at no additional cost. And most plans can no longer deny coverage or charge more due to a person’s pre-existing health condition, including mental illness.
In addition, the Affordable Care Act provides one of the largest expansions of mental health and substance use disorder coverage in a generation, by requiring that health insurance plans in the Health Insurance Marketplaces cover mental health and substance use disorder services. It builds on the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act to expand mental health and substance use disorder benefits and federal parity protections for behavioral health to 60 million Americans, helping ensure millions more Americans have access to the services they need to prevent mental illness and treat it.
There is truth in the old adage that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Mental illnesses result in major costs to society from lost productivity to lost lives. Even if we do not yet have a “vaccine” type of preventive intervention for serious mental illnesses, we can help reduce symptoms and disabling impacts if intervention occurs early. It behooves us to take advantage of the promise that prevention brings.
http://blog.samhsa.gov/2014/05/28/the-power-of-prevention/#.U4v2Rfk3wj5