Young woman contemplating at home

Accelerating progress on behavioral health challenges

Too often, behavioral health hasn’t been sufficiently addressed because of stigma, shame and secrecy, along with lack of access to services.

Three years on from the start of the pandemic, the public health emergency has expired, but we are still living with long-post-COVID trauma, compounded by the effects of many other societal changes and disruptions since 2020 alone: We’ve been through work from home and return to office, hiring frenzies, quiet quitting and loud layoffs, the Black Lives Matter movement and calls for social justice, bank collapse, the ongoing opioid epidemic, generationally high inflation. We have witnessed refugee crisis, gun violence, war and uprisings.

How EY can help

The combination of these and other factors has brought governments, businesses, physical health and mental health providers, and many others to a collective and hugely consequential inflection point. The need for more and better solutions for mental health care is unprecedented. Inaction, when the need is so high and solutions are within our reach would be unconscionable.

 

The silver lining of those dark clouds is that these realities are taking place alongside other game changers. Equally encouraging is the prospect that governments, companies and organizations can undertake measurably impactful initiatives quickly and soon. And they can do so even as they develop and implement accompanying projects designed to accelerate and sustain long-term, systemic reforms.

 

The question is not whether fundamental change is possible, but how key stakeholders can act – individually and collectively – to instigate and execute efforts to seize the moment.

 

This Mental Health Awareness blog series will explore:

  • The financial tolls of mental health toll and how we can fuel progress with existing resources
  • Mental health across the workforce and demographics and how treating mental health will further equity
  • How communities are filling the growing need for mental health care support: 5 global examples
  • Pathways to progress: providers, proximity, process

 

Access the full e-book here

The pandemic wasn’t and isn’t the only reason for rising mental health challenges, but it has been a tipping point. Join me in exploring how we can work together across government, private sector, and technology to improve our response to evolving mental health challenges.


Summary 

As the world continues to manage through monumental shifts — the pandemic, refugee crises, natural disasters, labor and supply shortages, poverty and price increases, and more — it’s no wonder we’re seeing an increased toll on mental health. This e-book has explored statistics showing that anxiety, depression and drug use are up. Nine in 10 Americans believe America is facing a mental health crisis.i

These challenges are complex, and there are no simple answers, but we have almost endless opportunities to reduce and remove these barriers.

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