FREEZE ON $8 BILLION MENTAL HEALTH BUDGET, TIME TO REASSESS EFFECTIVENESS

January 28 2025

In a surprising move, President Trump has put a hold on federal grants, loans, and other assistance, including funding for mental health programs. The pause comes at a crucial time when billions of dollars are being spent with little to show in return. The freeze provides that time to take a hard look at where taxpayer funds are going and if it’s really helping Americans. In the case of mental health funding, it’s an opportunity to assess whether hundreds of billions being spent is actually working or is it a colossal failure.

On the bright side, this break in funding could lead to better ways of helping people with mental health issues, without relying so heavily on psychiatric drugs that don’t treat any known abnormality. Yes. The drugs will change behavior, but horrific side effects come with each of the known drug “treatments” but none of the drugs correct any known abnormality.

Ultimately, the pause in funding can be used as an opportunity to create clear plans- exit plans – for people who desire to get off psychiatric medications and truly recover from the damage that is inflicted when taking mind-altering drugs. With mental health diagnosing on the rise, despite hundreds of billions of dollars thrown at mental health care, it’s time to rethink mental health care and make sure the “treatment” is actually improving lives, not just throwing money at a mental health industry that seems to continually get it wrong.

The U.S. government is spending hundreds of billions on mental health care and intervention, but no one is getting better.  In 2025, the federal government plans to spend a whopping $8.1 billion on mental health and substance abuse programs.  That’s $612 million more than in 2023.  Despite throwing more and more money at the problem, mental health diagnosing and drug treatment continues to increase.

The Community Mental Health Service Block Grant is set to receive $1 billion.  Another $413 million will go to Community Mental Health Centers, and $450 million to Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics.  And before its exit, the Biden-Harris Administration announced an extra $37 million for various mental health projects. Is this enormous amount of money thrown at mental health care programs effective and is anyone getting better? It would appear not.

Year after year, billions of dollars are poured into these programs yet there never is any data to show the success stories like how many Americans were taken off psychiatric medications or graduated out of mental health treatment centers.  There’s little proof that this massive spending is making a difference or, at a minimum, that anyone is getting better. There isn’t any reduction in drug abuse among all age groups and the pharmaceuticals are making a killing on psychiatric drugs used as “treatment” for mental health disorders. In fact, there’s an ever-increasing market for drugs that “treat” disorders caused by psychiatric drugs. And, even more bizarre are the new drugs marketed as “buddy” drugs for when the prescribed antidepressant just isn’t doing the job. Throwing hundreds of billions at mental health programs that aren’t helping is a bad way to spend money. People are starting to ask tough questions.  Data needs to be provided that reflects whether a program is making a difference. Is the program a success based on the numbers of those no longer needing the assistance? Or is the program just creating a cycle of dependence?

Trump appears to be looking for data about how the money is being spent and are the results of these programs successful? In the case of mental health, $8 billion is a lot of taxpayer dollars and the outcome data should reflect whether the program is a success or failure.  So far, it appears that mental health diagnosing and drugging increases every year leading one to conclude that those mental health programs are not working and it’s time to try a different approach.

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