Continuing to Strengthen Our Mental Health System

Floor Speech

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Ms. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my thoughts on H.R. 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2016. I voted in favor of this bill on July 6 of this year because it is a step forward in improving the lives of many Americans affected by mental illness.

I support numerous key provisions of H.R. 2646, including reauthorizing grant programs to promote efforts that curb suicide deaths and substance abuse, requiring the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to develop a strategic plan to improve services for individuals with serious mental illness, and allowing Medicaid Managed Care coverage of certain stays in psychiatric hospitals and other treatment facilities.

However, there remains much more work to be done in the mental health sphere. While H.R. 2646 addresses many of the pressing issues individuals affected by mental illness face, it misses the opportunity to address key areas that would greatly improve our mental health system.

H.R. 2646 could be improved by placing more emphasis on the benefits of community integration for people with mental health illnesses in conjunction with treatment by a medical professional. While hospitalization may be critical for some patients, a multi-faceted approach to treatment that includes community engagement and peer support has proven to be more effective in the long-term treatment of patients with mental illness.

I am also concerned by H.R. 2646's definition of ``anosognosia,'' which states that people with psychiatric conditions may be unable to make sound decisions regarding their own care because they lack reasoning and judgment. Evidence has shown that people with psychiatric disabilities make reasonable decisions about their care comparable to others with chronic health conditions. I fear that this definition may further stigmatize those living with mental illness and may jeopardize their privacy in making health care decisions for themselves.

While this bill improves mental health services for people living with mental illness, I take exception to the Majority's premise that it in any way addresses the prevalence of gun violence. H.R. 2646 conflates the ideas that reforming the mental health system is a means of reducing violent gun crimes, when in fact, it is a false and manufactured narrative that people with mental illness are more prone to violent behavior. The truth is that researchers have not found any correlation between psychiatric diagnoses and mass murder and people with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators of violent crimes.

I was pleased to vote in favor of H.R. 2646, as it marks an effort by this body to address our critically broken mental health system, but our priorities in this effort must remain focused on the health, security, and privacy of people living with mental illness. It is my hope that we will continue to improve upon this first step to guarantee that Americans with mental illness have access to effective mental health treatment while also remaining an integral part of our communities.

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