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What Does Your 2016 Presidential Candidate Say About Mental Health?

This article is more than 8 years old.

Interested in mental health? According to a recent poll, you probably are—just like the 90% of us in the U.S. who view mental health to be as important as physical health, the third of us who have trouble accessing mental health, and the 40% of us for whom mental health care costs are a barrier. In spite of widespread interest in mental health and the fact that almost half of the 2,000 people who responded to the poll thought they had a mental health condition, this critical issue—these are our brains and our behavior we’re talking about, after all—is barely on the radar of most of the 2016 presidential candidates.

To see what, if anything, candidates were saying about their stance on mental health and what they plan to do about something that touches the lives of just about every single person in the United States, I identified each candidate’s website and searched the site and performed a Google search on that domain using the terms “mental health” and “behavioral health.” This kind of search was necessary because the vast majority of candidates don’t provide search functions on their sites (a significant number of them don’t even provide issues statements. But you can buy things and donate!).

I then also scanned each site for mentions, with a particular focus on issues and briefing statements. To keep things to a reasonable length, I looked at only those candidates polling in the top half or so of the field for their parties, and I looked only at Republican and Democratic candidates.

Candidates are given in alphabetical order by last name (which I note includes a preponderance of candidates whose last names start with B and C). Note: This search does not include any mentions of mental or behavioral health that might be made in videos; the candidates don’t provide transcripts of their videos.

The take-home? Candidates rarely bring up mental health as part of their issues statements. When they do, what they say falls very clearly along party lines. Republican candidates who do address the issue tend to do so in the context of veterans affairs or to recommend institutionalizing certain mentally ill people rather than focusing on gun control. Democratic candidates who bring up mental health tend to do so in the context of reducing the flow in the prison pipeline and addressing substance use disorders. In other words and not surprisingly, mental health gets a mention where it seems to be politically expedient.

Jeb Bush-R: The Google searches on his domain+the search terms turned up a single hit, linking to his plan to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Veterans Health Administration, including two references to mental health.

Ben Carson, M.D.-R: The searches on Carson’s domain+search terms turned up zero hits. He does call “ObamaCare” a “looming disaster” but does not mention mental or behavioral health.

Chris Christie-R: When I searched Christie’s domain+search terms, I got zip. He places any references to health care on his “Entitlement Reform” page. The only time "mental" appears in his issues statements is within the words “fundamental(ly)” and “environmentally.”

Hillary Clinton-D: The Google searches on her domain+mental health and behavioral health turned up a few hits. At her site, I find briefings about addressing addiction and substance abuse, or as her campaign calls it, “drug and alcohol abuse.” Her site notes that almost 23 million people in the US have a substance use disorder but that only one in ten of these people receive treatment. She proposes that we not incarcerate our way out of the situation but instead commit $10 billion to prevent and treat substance use disorders. Thus far, she does not appear to address any other mental health conditions.

Ted Cruz-R: The Google search on his campaign domain+terms turned up an amicus brief on his campaign site addressing giving military recruiters access to college campuses (!) and that mentions early childhood mental health in an aside. Perhaps unique among the candidates, however, Cruz does offer you the chance to buy some branded "drinkware." A search of the likeliest page on his site to mention mental health, the "Life, Marriage, and Family" page, turns up no hits on the word "health."

Carly Fiorina-R: A Google search on Fiorina’s campaign domain+terms turned up no hits. A review of her campaign site also turned up no related information.

Jim Gilmore-R: A search on the former Virginia governor’s campaign domain+terms turned up a hit that led to his site’s statement about second amendment rights. The references there are to the need to institutionalize the “dangerous mentally ill.”

Mike Huckabee-R: The domain+terms search yielded a hit that goes to Huckabee’s veterans issues page, where it he promises to “Fight for mental health awareness, treatment, and suicide prevention.”

Bobby Jindal-R: Like many other (R) candidates, where Jindal mentions mental health, it’s under veterans’ issues, as part of Jindal’s claims about his work on behalf of Louisiana’s veterans.

Martin O’Malley-D: O’Malley’s domain+terms search turned up several hits. On his site’s criminal justice page, O’Malley calls for “robust investments” in community mental health infrastructure and drug treatment.

Rick Perry-R: This domain+terms search turned up a hit that led to Perry’s veterans-related issues page. There, he says that he

formed the Texas Veterans Initiative in 2014, a $1 million program designed to expand and evaluate community-based mental health programs for veterans and their relatives. These efforts expand on our existing knowledge of mental illness to help heal the battle scars that aren’t visible to the eye.

Bernie Sanders-D: The search on Sanders’ campaign domain+terms yielded several hits. On his racial justice issues page, Sanders says the following:

Police officers need to be trained to de-escalate confrontations and to humanely interact with people who have mental illnesses.

We need to invest in drug courts as well as medical and mental health interventions for people with substance abuse problems, so that people struggling with addiction do not end up in prison, they end up in treatment.

Rick Santorum-R: His campaign site makes two references to mental health, as follows:

we have lots of Americans who because of a variety of issues like incarceration or lack of education or mental or physical problems, there’s a variety of issues out there that many of the millions and millions of Americans have that are limiting their opportunities to rise. We have to pay attention to that.

And:

They know that every life matters no matter what physical or mental challenges a person may have.

Donald Trump-R: The domain+terms search yielded one hit for mental health, in which Rush Limbaugh is quoted in a transcript saying that Cuban mental health facilities are “the gutter” and “The Gulag.” On Trump's campaign site, the only subject listed under “positions” is “Immigration Reform.” I’ve written about Trump’s previous comments regarding mental illness here, and he recently spoke about his conviction that people who appear to have serious mental health issues should be institutionalized.

Scott Walker-R: For Walker, a domain+terms search turned up a single hit, linked to his statement supporting wellness incentive programs as part of his plan to “repeal and replace” Obamacare:

One of the best examples is the adoption of wellness programs. These programs enable those who offer health care coverage to provide incentives for people to adopt healthy behaviors that help reduce the incidence of chronic health issues that can end up raising future costs.

Although Joe Biden is currently polling third, he has not officially entered the 2016 presidential race and does not have a campaign site.

Lincoln Chafee-D, Marco Rubio-R, Rand Paul, M.D.-R, Lindsay Graham-R, John Kasich-R, and George Pataki-R, and Jim Webb-D: Searches of their campaign domains turned up no hits and scans of their sites didn’t turn up any mental or behavioral health-related hits.

Where contact information is available, I am reaching out to each campaign through the respective websites or email to see if the candidates have any statement they would like to make about mental health and about any plans they have related to incorporating mental health and access to mental health care into their campaign platforms. I will post updates, if any, here.

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