A Prayer for Better Recovery and Mental Health Treatment Programs

Praying for Peace and Justice on August 4, 2024

I pray for the wisdom and attention of policy makers to fund adequate recovery programs as
well as adequate mental health treatment programs for the people in our community and across
the country.

Background

Mental Health is becoming far more important to policy makers as Americans become willing
to admit to mental health issues and seek help and treatment.
More than 1 in 5 US adults live with a mental illness.
Over 1 in 5 youth (ages 13-18) either currently or at some point during their life, have had a
seriously debilitating mental illness. 5
About 1 in 25 U.S. adults lives with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar
disorder, or major depression. 6
Meanwhile, the addition of substance abuse disorder makes dealing with mental health more
complicated, and causes policy makers to underfund programs as they label the persons less
worthy of public funds.