Mental illness is not new. Every culture has wrestled with it in its own way—some wisely, some cruelly. Ancient societies often viewed mental illness as a spiritual crisis, something to be treated with community support, ritual, or healing traditions. In many indigenous cultures, those who suffered deeply were not cast out but guided through their struggles with the help of elders, healers, and the collective wisdom of the tribe. In the Navajo tradition, healing ceremonies like the Blessing Way were used to restore balance in an individual’s life. The West African Dagara people saw mental illness as a sign that a person had an important spiritual role to play and treated them with reverence, not shame.

Contrast this with modern industrialized nations, where mental illness is largely treated as an individual failing, ignored until it becomes a crisis, and then criminalized when it spills into public view.

In the United States, mental health services are woefully inadequate, fragmented, and expensive. A person experiencing severe depression or schizophrenia has few options: they can attempt to navigate an overburdened, bureaucratic system that requires wealth or luck to access, or they can suffer alone. Many end up homeless or in prison—institutions that were never meant to provide care but have, by default, become America’s largest mental health facilities. According to the Treatment Advocacy Center, there are ten times more individuals with severe mental illness in U.S. jails and prisons than in state psychiatric hospitals. The Los Angeles County Jail, Rikers Island, and Cook County Jail in Chicago are now de facto psychiatric institutions, housing thousands of individuals who would be better served in healthcare settings.

Nearly one in five adults in the U.S. experiences mental illness in any given year, yet over 50% of them receive no treatment. Suicide rates have surged, particularly among young people and veterans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide rates in the U.S. increased by 30% between 1999 and 2019, with the highest spikes occurring in rural areas where mental health services are least available. Depression and anxiety disorders are at record highs, fueled by economic instability, social disconnection, and the relentless pressures of a culture that values productivity over well-being.

Meanwhile, psychiatric hospitals have been shuttered in favor of “cost-cutting,” leaving millions without care. The deinstitutionalization movement of the 1960s and 70s, while well-intentioned, resulted in a catastrophic failure of community-based care. State hospitals were closed, but the promised community mental health centers were never adequately funded, leaving a vast gap in services.

The economic costs of untreated mental illness are just as severe. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) estimates that untreated mental illness costs the U.S. economy $193.2 billion in lost earnings per year. Employers bear the burden of reduced productivity, increased absenteeism, and rising disability claims. Emergency rooms and law enforcement agencies absorb the costs of crisis intervention, responding to psychiatric emergencies that could have been prevented with consistent care. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, mental health-related emergency room visits increased by 44% between 2006 and 2014, overwhelming hospitals already stretched thin.

Other nations have taken a different approach. In Finland, mental healthcare is fully integrated into primary care, meaning that anyone who visits a doctor can also access psychological support without stigma or financial burden. Their approach, known as “Open Dialogue,” emphasizes early intervention and community-based care, leading to dramatically better outcomes for individuals with schizophrenia compared to the U.S. model of forced hospitalization and heavy medication. Portugal decriminalized drug use and redirected funds toward addiction treatment and mental health services, leading to dramatic reductions in overdose deaths and incarceration rates. According to a study by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, drug-related deaths in Portugal fell by over 80% after decriminalization, demonstrating the power of treating addiction as a public health issue rather than a crime. The Netherlands has adopted a stepped-care model, where people can access the level of care they need before their conditions escalate into crisis. This approach prevents unnecessary hospitalizations and seeks to provide needed help as early as possible.

A rational mental health system would be universal, so that no one is denied care due to income, geography, or bureaucracy. It would be proactive, focusing on early intervention rather than waiting until people reach the breaking point. It would integrate mental healthcare into everyday life—offering services in schools, workplaces, community centers, and primary care clinics, rather than confining them to isolated psychiatric institutions. Finally, it would recognize that mental health is tied to social conditions. You cannot medicate someone out of poverty, nor can you treat anxiety in a society that thrives on making people afraid. A true mental health system would address root causes, not just symptoms.

The current state of mental healthcare in the U.S. is not a reflection of what is possible but of what has been chosen. Mental illness is not rare; it is universal, affecting people across all demographics. Yet we continue to treat it as an individual burden rather than a collective responsibility. A society that fails to invest in mental health services will pay for it elsewhere—in rising crime, social fragmentation, and the growing burden of human suffering.

Neglecting mental health is not just cruel; it is expensive. The costs of untreated mental illness—lost productivity, emergency room visits, incarceration, addiction, and homelessness—are far greater than the cost of providing care.

Investing in mental health services is not just about helping individuals; it is about strengthening the social fabric and ensuring a more stable, functional civilization that does not crumble from within.

Therefore, under Folklaw:

Mental health services shall be universally available, fully funded, and integrated into primary care, schools, workplaces, and community centers. No one shall be denied care based on income, and no mental illness shall be criminalized.

Psychiatric care shall not be treated as a luxury, but as a fundamental public service. Any government that neglects the psychological well-being of its people forfeits its legitimacy.