Introduction
The Inaugural Promotion and Prevention Summit of the 2008 Mental Health America Conference was held in Washington, DC, on June 6 and 7. The Summit began with a plenary session entitled "No Health Without Mental Health," given by President and Chief Executive Officer of Mental Health America, David Shern, PhD. Dr. Shern mentioned that in the ensuing 13 years since publication of the landmark 1994 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report entitled Reducing Risks for Mental Disorders: Frontiers for Preventive Intervention Research, much work has been done to identify risks, promote mental health, and prevent mental illnesses. Dr. Shern remarked that "today we begin a clarion call to bring people's attention to...this incredible corpus of scientific information" about mental health promotion and mental illness prevention.
Dr. Shern indicated that we have the most expensive healthcare system in the world: The United States spends twice as much on healthcare as most other nations, -- and yet our health outcomes are unacceptable. He noted that the most disabling conditions, and those with the earliest ages of onset and the longest latencies before being treated, are the mental illnesses and substance use disorders. Mental Health America aims to emerge as the premiere advocacy organization pushing the agenda of promotion and prevention.
Dr. Shern previewed a presentation developed by Mental Health America for the business community, one of many communities that the organization will be targeting. The presentation, called "FundaMENTAL Health: Bottomline Sense," will facilitate the work of Mental Health America affiliates with local businesses. This presentation begins with a number of crucial foundational facts and statistics. Half of people with a mental health diagnosis first experience it by the age of 14 years, but most won't receive treatment until the age of 24, on average. Children with mental health conditions are likely to perform poorly in class, miss school, drop out of school, abuse alcohol and drugs, and achieve a lower occupational level.
Mental illnesses and substance use disorders account for a large portion of illness-related disability. Approximately 30,000 Americans commit suicide every year. The important interactions between chronic physical diseases (eg, coronary heart disease) and certain mental illnesses (eg, major depression) are being recognized increasingly. Serious mental health conditions are associated with $193.2 billion in lost earnings per year, which is more than the annual revenue of every Fortune 500 company except Walmart, and is equivalent to more than $600 per person in the United States. Costs include direct healthcare costs, absenteeism, "presenteeism" (ie, being present at work but not fully engaged because of a health condition, such as depression), and other indirect costs associated with disability.
Dr. Shern said that we know what works, such as improving awareness, reducing stigma and discrimination, screening and early intervention, and workplace health promotion programs. The newly developed Mental Health America presentation is a call to the business community to address the issues that are fundamental to the health and well-being of employees. More presentations will be developed by Mental Health America for other sectors.