Legislative Priorities | Mental Health America

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Mental health conditions should be treated long before crisis. When we think about cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, we don’t wait years to treat them. We start before Stage 4— we try to prevent illness, address symptoms early, and develop a plan for treatment." /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://mhanational.org/legislative-priorities" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Mental Health America" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://mhanational.org/legislative-priorities" /> <meta property="og:title" content="Legislative Priorities" /> <meta property="og:description" content="Founded in 1909, Mental Health America (MHA) – with more than 200 affiliates across the United States – is the nation’s leading community-based nonprofit dedicated to addressing the needs of those living with mental illness and to promoting the overall mental health of all Americans. Mental health conditions should be treated long before crisis. When we think about cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, we don’t wait years to treat them. 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When we think about cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, we don’t wait years to treat them. We start before Stage 4— we try to prevent illness, address symptoms early, and develop a plan for treatment.</p> <p>Left untreated, people slowly lose their ability to live the life they and their families imagined – as healthy, successful, and contributing members of their community. They become isolated from the community and often end up homeless, in jails, or in hospitals. The community misses out through lost productivity and relationships.</p> <p>MHA collaborates with scientists, practitioners, policy experts, advocates, and other community leaders to design policy recommendations that promote:</p> <ul> <li><a data-entity-substitution="canonical" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="b00cb25b-6d26-4fa8-a97c-78b5b491bf1f" href="/issues/prevention-all" title="Prevention for All">Prevention for all;</a></li> <li><a data-entity-substitution="canonical" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="44243a61-a7b6-401c-a0e0-79116cb448b5" href="/issues/early-identification-and-intervention-those-risk" title="Early Identification and Intervention for those at Risk">Early identification and intervention for those at risk;</a></li> <li><a data-entity-substitution="canonical" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="2a413a2d-0b6e-430c-a545-c443978ee08c" href="/issues/integrated-treatment-those-need" title="Integrated Treatment for Those in Need">Integrated care and treatment for those who need it; and</a></li> <li><a data-entity-substitution="canonical" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="f74532eb-6aea-41ab-80f1-4880177d571b" href="/issues/recovery-goal" title="Recovery as the Goal">Recovery as the goal.</a></li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>Changes in policy can better the lives of Americans living with mental illness and we urge you to consider our recommendations and address mental health before Stage 4.</p> <p><a data-entity-substitution="canonical" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="1fd614b6-d9b6-49d2-b4c1-1d7102aaad56" href="/issues/current-mental-health-legislation" title="Current Mental Health Legislation">Learn more about some of the mental health legislation in the 116th Congress and where it falls in line with Mental Health America's legislative priorities. </a></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>     </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <footer id="footer" class="footer"> <div 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