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January 1, 1999
Improving mental health services is one of the top priorities for the nation, Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., told AMA members at the opening session of the AMA's interim House of Delegates meeting in Honolulu December 6.
The nation "must care just as much about mental health as physical health," said Satcher. "We must create an environment not characterized by blame and stigmatization . . .so that families do not suffer alone."
In an interview with Psychiatric News, Satcher reaffirmed his commitment to parity for mental health services.
"I do see the achievement of parity as important," he remarked. "I believe that just as things go wrong with the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys, they go wrong with the brain for many different reasons. Parity of access to care is important, and I believe that we are going to move in that direction as a country. I plan to do everything I can."
Satcher noted that he anticipates the release of the first Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health by fall 1999 and the Surgeon General's Conference Report on Suicide Prevention "probably even earlier."
"No other priority has generated as much interest and enthusiasm" as mental health, said Satcher in a statement distributed at the meeting.
During the final session of the House of Delegates on December 9, the AMA approved a measure reaffirming its commitment to insurance parity for mental health services. The measure noted that the AMA would work with APA and other organizations to develop model state legislation to promote parity
Mental health problems are inextricably linked to other public health problems, including substance abuse and violence, Satcher noted. For every two people murdered, three people kill themselves, and teenage suicide has tripled since 1950. At the other end of the age spectrum, the fastest growing demographic group in the nation, people over 80, are killing themselves with increasing frequency (see story on page 6). Some 40 million Americans between the ages of 15 and 54 have suffered from some type of mental disorder in the past year.
All of these statistics pose a challenge for public health, said Satcher. Some important steps have already been taken. The first national conference on suicide prevention was held in Washington, D.C., several months ago, hosted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and Health Resources and Services Administration, he noted (Psychiatric News, May 15, 1998). That conference was the first federally sponsored effort to bring health professionals, suicide survivors, and policymakers "under one roof in an effort to shape a different future for this country as it relates to suicide and mental health," he observed. The results of that conference will serve as the basis for the Surgeon General's Conference Report on Suicide Prevention.
More information is available at the Web site of Healthy People 2010 at