As director of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ behavioral health programs, Dr. Brandee Izquierdo oversees the organization’s projects on substance use treatment and prevention and suicide risk reduction. This interview about her professional, academic, and lived expertise has been edited for length and clarity.
Bipartisan Agreement: Leaders Are Prioritizing Mental Health
President Joe Biden reflected in his State of the Union in March on the COVID-19 pandemic and how it had wreaked havoc on people’s day-to-day lives, spurring “a mental health crisis of isolation and loneliness.” Data supports this: As the pandemic unfolded, one 2021 study found that about 4 in 10 adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, four times pre-pandemic levels.
High School Basketball Star Plays Defense Against Depression
In 2021, around 48,000 Americans died by suicide, an increase following a two-year decline. This video discusses several factors that can contribute to suicide risk, including family history of suicide, feelings of hopelessness and isolation, and brain chemistry abnormalities.
From Stigma to Stability: A Doctor and Advocate Discuss
Methadone, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the 1970s as a first-line treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), is a proven, effective drug: It reduces overdose deaths and infectious disease transmission, and it supports treatment retention and recovery.
A stable dose [of methadone] for me meant finding balance in my mental health that I was not able to find [without it].
Stigma surrounds two growing public health problems in the United States: substance use disorder and suicide. In this episode of “Mental Health in America,” Sheri Doyle, who leads Pew’s substance use prevention and treatment initiative, and Allison Corr, from Pew’s suicide risk reduction project, discuss the rise in these disorders.
This week, we're looking beyond the numbers, sharing stories from people who are affected by mental health issues. You'll also meet some of the experts and advocates who are working to make a difference for those affected.
People in America have long grappled with mental health conditions and substance use, and for many individuals, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these issues. The numbers are stark: In 2021, nearly 1 in 4 adults had a mental illness; nearly 1 in 3 adults had a substance use disorder or mental illness; and more than 12 million adults had serious thoughts of suicide.
The Pew Charitable Trusts conducts research and supports policies to improve behavioral health in America, including increasing access to medications for opioid use disorder, making suicide screening a routine part of health care delivery, and improving crisis care in communities so people in distress can have access to health-focused treatment instead of the first response coming from law enforcement.
As director of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ behavioral health programs, Dr. Brandee Izquierdo oversees the organization’s projects on substance use treatment and prevention and suicide risk reduction. This interview about her professional, academic, and lived expertise has been edited for length and clarity.
Bipartisan Agreement: Leaders Are Prioritizing Mental Health
President Joe Biden reflected in his State of the Union in March on the COVID-19 pandemic and how it had wreaked havoc on people’s day-to-day lives, spurring “a mental health crisis of isolation and loneliness.” Data supports this: As the pandemic unfolded, one 2021 study found that about 4 in 10 adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, four times pre-pandemic levels.
High School Basketball Star Plays Defense Against Depression
In 2021, around 48,000 Americans died by suicide, an increase following a two-year decline. This video discusses several factors that can contribute to suicide risk, including family history of suicide, feelings of hopelessness and isolation, and brain chemistry abnormalities.
From Stigma to Stability: A Doctor and Advocate Discuss
Methadone, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the 1970s as a first-line treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), is a proven, effective drug: It reduces overdose deaths and infectious disease transmission, and it supports treatment retention and recovery.
A stable dose [of methadone] for me meant finding balance in my mental health that I was not able to find [without it].
Stigma surrounds two growing public health problems in the United States: substance use disorder and suicide. In this episode of “Mental Health in America,” Sheri Doyle, who leads Pew’s substance use prevention and treatment initiative, and Allison Corr, from Pew’s suicide risk reduction project, discuss the rise in these disorders.
This week, we're looking beyond the numbers, sharing stories from people who are affected by mental health issues. You'll also meet some of the experts and advocates who are working to make a difference for those affected.
Substance use disorders and the harms associated with these diseases are a serious, growing public health problem. Nearly 48,000 Americans died from an opioid overdose in 2017. Pew develops and supports policies that would reduce the inappropriate...
More than 2 million people with mental health conditions—including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and severe depression—are jailed each year, often for misdemeanor crimes. Three-quarters of these individuals have co-occurring substance use...
Suicide is a growing public health problem in the United States. Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that more than 49,000 people died by suicide in 2022—the highest number of suicide deaths ever recorded in...
