Equality! Equity! Justice! – A Call To Action

This Call to Action – “Equality! Equity! Justice!” – by AMWA encourages everyone to seek a healthier, happier, more humane America.

Mental health conditions are physical health conditions. We know negative and positive behaviors are symptoms stemming from functions of the brain and the central nervous system.

Just like other physical conditions, mental health conditions have stages of illness. From child to senior, Americans every day are getting very sick with many being arrested, incarcerated, and dying because of inhumane actions occurring against those who live with a physical mental health condition which includes addictions. Mental health problems are preventable and treatable just like many other physical medical conditions. Yet, for decades, there has not been a profound push to get this message out to the public. Any person experiencing a mental health challenge or crisis should not be subject to the discriminating and prejudicial failings of our society any longer. Inhumane treatment ends now with this Equality! Equity! Justice! call.

Below are 24 action bullets that need immediate attention. Everyone, individually and collectively, must work to end these unacceptable conditions. Only then can real positive change happen! Familiarize yourself with each statement below, and be sure to check out the resources and information for how you can make sure “Not One More” happens in your community.

Below are the 24 statements the AMWA has created to see significant comprehensive reform in the U.S. Each statement contains additional information and resources for how you can implement change in each area.

1. NOT ONE MORE preventable suicide or self-injury because a child or adult could not get the mental health care they needed when they were in crisis.

2. NOT ONE MORE person treating mental health as separate from physical health

3. NOT ONE MORE person self medicating their emotional pain with drugs or alcohol because they did not receive proper mental health treatment.

4. NOT ONE MORE person imprisoned and punished for being sick, when they should be treated in a hospital.

5. NOT ONE MORE family member afraid to call 911 for help, for fear that their loved one experiencing a mental health crisis would be shot or arrested rather than taken to a hospital.

6. NOT ONE MORE man, woman, or child turned away from an inpatient or outpatient medical facility for mental health care treatment when they needed help.

7. NOT ONE MORE person avoiding mental health care for themselves or a loved one for fear of the stigma a diagnosis of mental illness would bring.

8. NOT ONE MORE year when it is easier for someone struggling with a mental illness to get a gun than to get an appointment with a mental health professional.

9. NOT ONE MORE child or adult not knowing the early signs and symptoms of a developing mental health problem.

10. NOT ONE MORE tax dollar wasted on providing high cost ineffective services to people with mental health problems when these funds should be diverted to validated programs and approaches such as prevention, early intervention and effective treatment and services. 

11. NOT ONE MORE local, state, or federal law that keeps children, youth, adults, and older adults from receiving prompt optimal medical care for their mental health conditions (which includes substance use misuse).

12. NOT ONE MORE child, youth, adult, older adult not receiving early detection and intervention for a mental health problem.

13. NOT ONE MORE person not knowing they can go to their family physician or a primary care provider at first sign and symptoms of a mental health problem.

14. NOT ONE MORE year without routine screening for early symptoms of mental health problems.  

15. NOT ONE MORE person having to wait weeks for a psychiatric evaluation.

16. NOT ONE MORE year without a Mobile Response and Stabilization Service available 24/7 in every community.

17. NOT ONE MORE year without Crisis Now Model Practices implemented in all communities across the United States.

18. NOT ONE MORE law enforcement officer, judge or prosecutor lacking basic education and training in how to help someone experiencing a mental health problem or in a mental health crisis.

19. NOT ONE MORE student failing in the classroom because a developing mental health problem went unnoticed or ignored.

20. NOT ONE MORE employee discriminated against because of a mental health problem or mental health crisis.

21. NOT ONE MORE word stigmatizing people with mental health conditions.

22. NOT ONE MORE insurance company providing inappropriate and/or inequitable reimbursements for mental health care treatment and services without being held accountable for doing so.

23. NOT ONE MORE governmental agency, company, or nonprofit agency using outdated terms like “behavioral health” rather than properly identifying them as “behavioral symptoms” of a medical problem.

24. NOT ONE MORE year of inhumane treatment of children, youth, adults, and older adults who live with a mental health condition.