By Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research & Operations
There’s nothing quite like a conference—being surrounded by people who share your interests—to get your brain firing on all cylinders. Last week, I had the privilege of attending the National Association for Rural Mental Health’s annual conference in Anchorage, Alaska. The event primarily targets practitioners and professionals—those on the front lines of mental health care—not someone like me, a policy wonk. Still, as I listened to speaker after speaker, I found myself constantly asking: How does policy connect to this issue? How do other states address these something like this? How do Minnesota’s laws and systems compare?
I wondered: Is access to care easier elsewhere? Are schools seeing success by bringing therapists and licensed social workers directly into classrooms? Are problems being solved? Are people actually being helped?
One compelling and pretty persuasive presentation came from Dr. Russel Roberts of Charles Stuart University in Australia. He emphasized that mental health is not just a personal issue; it’s a public health issue. Through a detailed look at the data, he made a stark point: mental illness shortens lives.
- People with mental illnesses are dying earlier.
- Two-thirds of these deaths are preventable.
- We need to better connect physical and mental health care.
According to Dr. Roberts, people with mental illnesses die preventable deaths every day in the United States. These are people we know had prior contact with the health system—they had diagnoses—yet their physical health care needs still weren’t fully met. People with mental illness die at a rate 5.6 times higher than the general population. That rate increases in rural areas and is significantly higher among men.
What’s causing this disparity? A big part of the problem is fragmented care. As Roberts put it, “Mental health doesn’t do physical health, and physical health doesn’t do mental health.” The systems have traditionally operated in silos, with high turnover rates in both sectors. Meanwhile, many people with mental illness may fear or distrust the health care system—especially when symptoms are flaring. That same flare-up often interferes with self-care, even think, “I should see a doctor about this.”
Dr. Roberts’ core message was clear: It’s all connected. Mental health and physical health are interconnected systems that have a major impact on each other. They can’t be segregated from one another like our health care system has traditionally been doing.
This struck a chord with me not just on a human level, but because of a report we published last fall on children’s access to mental health services. One promising development we highlighted is the rise of integrated behavioral health—the practice of embedding mental health professionals into primary care clinics. If a doctor suspects a patient might be struggling with mental health, a behavioral health provider can step in. No referrals, no delay—just care, in the moment.
Dr. Roberts also suggested a simple, practical step: mental health care providers should routinely ask clients about their physical health. Questions like: Have you had a mammogram? How’s your blood sugar? These touchpoints could open the door to life-saving care.
Are mental health providers in Minnesota asking these questions? I hope so. Addressing someone’s physical health might be the key to improving their mental well-being—and vice versa.
And if the humanitarian argument doesn’t resonate with you, maybe the economic one will. Getting more people into physical care earlier could significantly reduce preventable deaths and lower overall health care costs. Preventive care is always less expensive than an emergency room visit.
We’ll never bring the number of preventable deaths down to zero. But if treating the whole person can save lives and reduce costs, isn’t it worth considering?