The United States is moving closer toward eliminating the "shame and secrecy" surrounding mental illnesses in part because of Obamacare, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said Thursday.
"When we think about mental illnesses, we often focus on getting adults the help they need," Burwell in a speech in Washington to celebrate Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day,
The Hill reports. "But many conditions surface long before those affected reach adulthood."
Half of all mental illnesses begin by age 14, and three-quarters by age 24, she said.
She cautioned that parents and teachers often do not recognize signs of mental illness or substance abuse in young people, the Hill reports. Young people, also, are often "too afraid" to seek help or speak out.
And about 60 million people now are receiving behavioral healthcare — "many for the first time in their lives," Burwell said — because of Obamacare.
The healthcare law requires insurers to offer such preventive services as screenings for depression and alcohol abuse — "all without copays or out-of-pocket fees," Burwell said.
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