DeGette to lead key House panel hearing on nation’s mental health crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, Feb. 17, at 11:30 a.m. ET, the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations panel – which oversees the nation's health agencies – will hold a hearing on the nation's growing mental health crisis.

The hearing comes in the wake of reports that Americans are experiencing increased levels of mental illness as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic – including higher rates of anxiety, depression and thoughts of suicide.

A recent CDC survey found more than 40% of all U.S. adults reported suffering from at least one mental or behavioral health issue during the early months of the pandemic. At the same time, the number of drug overdose deaths reported in the U.S. rose by more than 31% in 2020, compared to the year before.

"We are in the midst of a real mental health crisis in this country," said U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), who chairs the oversight panel, "and it's one that's only been exacerbated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The grief and stress caused by this ongoing global health crisis is taking a real toll on people's mental health and we need to ensure everyone has access to the care and support they need. No one in this country who is concerned for their mental health should also be concerned whether they can get the help they need."

While declines in Americans' mental health have been reported across every demographic group, minorities, young adults, essential workers and unpaid adult caregivers have reportedly experienced the most significant declines in their mental health since the pandemic began.

Health care and other essential frontline workers who could not work from home during the pandemic – and often faced significant workforce challenges, such as staff shortages and extended shifts – reported substantially higher rates of mental distress, substance use, and suicidal ideation compared to nonessential workers.

In fact, according to a June 2020 survey, 22% of essential workers reported seriously considering suicide during the early months of the pandemic, compared to 8% of non-essential workers.

And it's not just adults who are being affected. In December 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General sounded an alarm over the impact that the ongoing pandemic has had on children's mental health – noting that more than 167,000 youth across the country have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19.

In early 2021, emergency room visits for suspected suicide attempts for adolescent girls rose more than 50% compared to just one year earlier.

Despite a growing mental health crisis across the country, only a fraction of Americans with mental health concerns are receiving treatment. A nationwide shortage of mental health professionals, the prohibitive cost of treatment, a lack of insurance coverage, and the stigma associated with seeking such care, have all been cited as reasons why many Americans have been unable or unwilling to get the mental health care they need.

In 2021, Congress appropriated more than $8 billion in COVID-19 relief funds to help address the nation's growing mental health crisis, with a particular focus on populations deemed to be most at risk.

The House also passed nine additional bills last year to further address the crisis – including the mental and behavioral health needs of students, inequities in mental health services, and increasing awareness and access to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline as it transitions to its new 9-8-8 number later this year.

Thursday's subcommittee hearing, which comes as Congress now looks for new ways to respond to the crisis, will begin at 11:30 a.m. ET and will be streamed live at the following link: https://youtu.be/_IjdOBnfMIE

Below is a list of the witnesses that will be testifying at the hearing:

Lisa Fortuna, M.D., M.P.H.

American Psychiatric Association Member

Vice-Chair of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco

Jacqueline Nesi, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior

Brown University

Amit Paley, M.B.A.

CEO and Executive Director

The Trevor Project

Christopher Thomas

Co-Founder

The Defensive Line

Hon. Elinore McCance-Katz, Ph.D., M.D.

Former Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Abuse