Mental Health crisis

 Today in America, we're facing a mental health crisis. The need for mental health professionals has never been higher. Nationally, there are only 31,000 psychiatrists available to treat over 200 different mental health disorders. The state of Missouri has a population of 6.2 million, and 925,000 of those people are diagnosed with some sort of mental health disorder. A staggering 225,000 of the population suffers from a serious mental illness that affects their everyday quality of life. Over 50% of Missouri residents live with some form of untreated trauma in their lives. Even though there are 181 clinics and facilities in the state of Missouri that treat mental illness and provide trauma-informed care, unfortunately, there were 1,125 suicides recorded last year. I'm here as one of the 225,000 who has lived most of my life with an untreated serious mental illness and severe trauma.

In 2024 there were 1,219 Missouri residents who took their own lives. That's one person for every 7 hours.

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death for a Missourian. It is the second leading cause of death for a Missourian aged 15 to 34. 

Missouri ranks 19.1 in death rate by suicide compared to the national death rate of 14.

Mental health and substance use disorders are the leading factors that lead to someone committing suicide.

People who are experiencing homelessness are 35% more likely to commit suicide than the housed population. Last year in Missouri there was an estimated 6,000 people experiencing homelessness, 345 of them died from suicide.

Almost 2 million Missouri residents are living with mental illness.

38,000 Missouri residents have admitted living with substance use disorders.

That is over 25% of our citizens living at risk of suicide. Over 3 million people in the state of Missouri alone may at some point need some sort of assistance.