Leading theMental HealthCivil Rights Movement

Our mission is to end the mental health crisis and ensure all Americans their right to the pursuit of happiness.

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In February of 2024, I lost my father to suicide.

And as tragic as his death was, it was just one of approximately 131 suicides in America that day. It would take just 11 minutes after my father's passing for another suicide to occur in this country. And then again 11 minutes later. And again, and again…

The nightmare of my father's suicide awakened me to the mental health epidemic in this country. 1 in 5 Americans, or 68 million people, live with a mental illness (CDC) . As it turns out, my father's story is the rule, not the exception.

How is that possible? How did we let things get so bad — for ourselves, our families and our fellow citizens?

Mental health is inseparable from physical health, yet is excluded from insurance coverage, underfunded in public health systems, and even criminalized. This creates a two-tiered system in which those with mental illness are denied equal access to care, due process, and life itself. Of those with mental health challenges, only 1 in 3 get any care at all, and when they do, it takes an average of 8 years (CDC).

This current binary creates two standards so substantively different that it wouldn't even qualify as 'separate but equal'. This paradigm, in other words, wouldn't have satisfied an unjust standard in the 1950s and yet, here it stands in 2025.

Legislation is the only tool with the scale and durability to correct systemic disparities in mental health care. Just as civil rights laws in the 1960s reshaped discriminatory institutions through enforceable rights—not voluntary efforts—mental health reform now requires binding protections. And because mental health affects every community, it remains one of the few issues capable of generating genuine bipartisan momentum for lasting change.

We will launch a Mental Health Civil Rights Movement — a national effort devoted to passing a Mental Health Civil Rights Act that will prioritize mental health, reduce stigma, advance treatments, and guarantee accessible, effective care for all.
MISSION

— Jono Wilde, Executive Director

Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman because it often results in physical death.

Mental health legislation has strong bi-partisan support

Mental health legislation has the strongest partisan support

Sources: Pew Research, Inseparable Research

There is unanimous support for mental health reform across the political spectrum. In fact, 88% of voters (164 million Americans) say addressing this crisis should be an important priority (Inseparable).