Mental Health Care Works: Insights From a Public Service Campaign

Focus (Am Psychiatr Publ). 2025 Jan;23(1):40-43. doi: 10.1176/appi.focus.20240030. Epub 2025 Jan 15.

Abstract

The United States is experiencing a mental health crisis, with COVID-19 increasing the prevalence of mental health concerns and demand for services, but also leaving millions without care, including many who do not know that treatment is needed or available. The American Psychiatric Association Foundation's Mental Health Care Works campaign was informed by results from an assessment of mental health awareness and perceptions of adults in the United States. These results highlighted the need for more public education about the efficacy of mental health care and ongoing need to normalize treatment and make care more accessible and relatable. The campaign features examples of success stories of treatment and helps spread the message that mental health care is effective. The campaign materials are a resource for health professionals to provide education to patients and society, informing them that mental health care works and that there is no health without mental health.

Keywords: Mental Health Care/Service Delivery Systems; Patient and Family Education; Psychosocial Interventions.