Can mental health be the cause of most of the issues in the world?

Substance addiction and abuse is a brain disease. Denying that addiction is a brain disease is a harmful denial since it contributes to reduced access to healthcare and treatment, the consequences of which are detrimental to our community.

Mental health plays a big part in society. It is on a shallow totem pole of a priority compared to where it should be.

According to reports published in the Journal of the American Medical Association: Roughly 50 percent of individuals with severe mental disorders are affected by mental health. Mental health seems to be the root of all evil, and in our country today, it is the cause of mass shootings, it is the cause of sexual abuse, and it all goes hand in hand.

Drug abuse leads to sexual abuse, and poor mental health is just the core.

Recently in Uvalde, Texas, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos shot up an elementary school killing 19 children and two teachers. According to the Uvalde police, he did not have any mental health diagnosis. But sources say he had lots of issues but just never went and got help or diagnosis. This is precisely where our problem lies because people are not seeking help for their mental health issues, and most of the time, if they have mental health issues, they don't know any better than to seek help.

Parents need to start being more involved with their children's mental health and helping them fix anything that they may have going on. As parents, they should be going through their children's social media. They should be checking in with them, asking them how they're doing socially, feeling, and what may be bothering them. Many of these kids turn to substance abuse because it's the only way they know how to deal with their feelings and make them go away. Mental health can be overcome in children if parents take the time to help their children before it gets too late. Substance abuse is a significant factor in young adult death rates. These kids feel like they have no one to turn to and nowhere to go, so they abuse drugs to cover their feelings and emotions.

There are a lot of drug programs and resources out there for mental health and substance abuse. The government should spend more money and time developing better and more programs to help these young adults, so they don't turn into drug abusers, murderers, and pedophiles.