Hall: Mental health treatment doesn’t have to be such a mess. Here’s what Maryland can do now.

It’s no secret that the United States has chronically underinvested in mental health and addiction treatment, but recently the combined scourges of COVID, the opioid epidemic and economic woes have pushed the system to the breaking point. Last December, the U.S. Surgeon General warned that young Americans were experiencing shockingly high rates of depression, hopelessness and suicidal thoughts, while Maryland saw a 46% increase in children seen in Emergency Rooms for suicide attempts. In 2021, the U.S. had the highest levels of fatal drug overdoses in history, a trend reflected in Maryland. This has turned into a national crisis as isolation, grief, job loss, stress and addiction take their toll on our well-being, and our treatment system can’t keep up.