How will those seeking our votes in November address the nation’s mental health crisis?

“Sorry, I tried.”

These were the words my brother wrote in his suicide note just before he took his own life this summer, losing a 21-year battle with schizophrenia and America’s inadequate mental health system.

The basis of her decision was the utter exhaustion of trying to navigate ineffective health care to find the holistic support she needed. I simply no longer had the struggle to navigate a complex system that often prioritizes the wrong outcomes and has very few resources. My brother’s story stands out the urgent need for each of us to demand better resources for people living with mental illness.

The past 18 months have given our family a concentrated first-hand view of the challenges experienced by people with mental illness. My brother was hospitalized three times in the last year of his life across two states while experiencing debilitating fear and paranoia.

Lacking unlimited financial means, the only path to the hospital care he desperately needed required going to the emergency room, waiting for days for a bed to become available in a psychiatric hospital, attended by fierce defenders at his side, and summoning a strength and perseverance that I have yet to see equaled.

Once they were admitted to the hospital, the resources available were inconsistent and moderate at best, not because of a lack of healthcare professionals to care for them and try, but because of a system that does not have adequate resources.

Exhausted nurses and stretched thin psychiatrists did the best they could, but too often they had to focus only on stabilization to discharge because of limited insurance coverage and the beds they needed the others

Every time my brother came home with a stack of discharge papers, we were surprised at how limited the follow-up was: bi-weekly or monthly appointments for medication management, limited to no communication from social workers, lists of wait for outpatient programs.

Our family worked the phones and spent endless hours seeking support to help him while he was an outpatient. It was devastating to realize how alone we were.

Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that affects various areas of the brain, affecting thinking abilities, memories and senses. There are countless misconceptions about what schizophrenia is, including that people who experience it are violent, scary or lost. My brother was none of these things. What he struggled with was believing that he was a good person and that he was worthy of being a member of his community.

Mental illness is a misunderstood topic for many, even though it affects one in five Americans. The mental health crisis across America is serious, but often evident in ways invisible to most of us.

Like being told there’s a two-year waiting list to get an appointment with a psychiatrist who will take Medicaid, or being told by others that they won’t take your case, even if you pay out of pocket, because it’s too complicated. .

Other consequences are more dramatic, such as someone suffering from mental illness being killed in their home by first responders who were not properly trained to handle the situation.

Based on statistics alone, nearly every American knows someone living with a mental illness, and poor mental health has increased significantly in the past decade among our young adults. Trends suggest that this epidemic will not improve without significant intervention.

It was devastating to realize how alone we were.

As we head into another election, we need to educate ourselves about the mental health policy positions of every candidate, from Donald Trump and Kamala Harris to state and local candidates, and vote accordingly .

I ask you to consider: Which candidates will support funding for community programs? Who will continue to fund Medicaid in a way that allows those who need mental health support to get it? Who will support the inclusion of mental wellbeing in our school curricula to help identify those who need it earlier? Who will support the training of first responders to ensure they are properly equipped to help someone in crisis?

Visit Mental Health America (mhanational.org/2024-voter-guide) and your local candidates’ websites today to learn more about their positions on mental health. If you don’t see the information, call and ask for it.

“Forgive me, I tried,” my brother wrote. I wish I had the chance to say, “Forgive us, we’ll try harder.”

Molly H. Wilson is a grieving sister and mental health advocate who resides in Blue Bell.