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November 2023 Newsletter
Issue #81
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It is estimated that more than 20% (57.8 million) of U.S. adults live with a mental illness.
The prevalence of mental health issues is higher among females (27.2%) than males (18.1%).
Young adults aged 18-25 years have the highest prevalence of mental health issues (34%) compared to adults aged 26-49 years (28%) and aged 50 and older (15%).
73% of Americans say that they are financially stressed. 59% said they had experienced anxiety due to financial stress, a 12% increase since 2020, with 45% suffering from depression as a direct result of money worries -- an 11% increase from 2020.
Youth
6% of youth (age 12-17) report suffering from at least 1 major depressive episode in the past year. 11% of youth (over 2.7 million youth) are experiencing severe major depression.
6% (1.5 million) of youth in the U.S. report a substance use disorder in the past year.
50% of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24.
The average delay between onset of symptoms and intervention in young people is 8-10 years.
Approximately 50% of students age 14 and older with a mental illness drop out of high school.
70% of youth in state and local juvenile justice systems have a mental illness.
Suicide
Over 48,000 Americans commit suicide each year
and 1.7 million attempt it.
4.8% of adults in the U.S. (12.1 million individuals) report serious thoughts of suicide. 11% of adults who identified with two or more races reported serious thoughts of suicide in 2020 – 6% higher than the average among all adults.
Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among people aged 10-14.
90% of young people who die by suicide have an underlying mental illness.
Criminal Justice System
The rate of mental disorders in the incarcerated population is 3 to 12 times higher than that of the general community.
80% of women in prison have a history of substance use disorder. More than 70% of mothers in prison report having sought mental health treatment or counseling before incarceration.
Treatment
55% of adults with a mental illness (about 28 million individuals) do not receive treatment.
In the U.S., there are an estimated 350 individuals for every 1 mental health provider.
Jails in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are the 3 largest institutions providing psychiatric care in
the U.S.
Of the 15% of adults in the U.S. with a substance use disorder in the past year, 93% did not receive any form of treatment.
28% of all adults with a mental illness report that they are not able to receive the treatment they need. 42% of these say can not
afford it.
Those who do get treatment spend an average of $374.95 per month on their mental health -- a 30% increase from 2020.
In the U.S., mental health accounts for about 5.5% of all health spending.
11% (over 5.5 million) adults with a mental illness are uninsured. Hispanic adults are least likely to have health insurance, with 19% reporting they were not covered by insurance.
Nationally, 60% of youth with major depression do not receive any mental health treatment. 28% receive some consistent treatment (7-25+
visits in a year).
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The 2023 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all,”
Mohammadi, 51, has been sentenced to more than 30 years in prison, and has been banned from seeing her husband and children. Her name has become synonymous with the battle for human rights in Iran. According to the Norwegian Nobel Committee the regime has arrested her 13 times, convicted her 5 times, and sentenced her to a total of 31 years in prison, and 154 lashes.
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Engaging Thomas Merton:
Spirituality, Justice and Racism
By Daniel Horan OFM. Highlights the enduring relevance of Thomas Merton's thought in addressing the pressing concerns of our time, based on contemporary engagements of his work and legacy. Read more.
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Doing Christian Ethics from the Margins
(3rd Edition)
By Miguel A. De La Torre. In this revised classroom text, further argues that the pain and suffering of people who have been marginalized continues to inform a perspective that holds a greater grasp of reality than those who are more privileged by power and profit. Read more.
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The Inner Life and Social Responsibility
By Howard Thurman. Edited by Walter Earl Fluker and Peter Eisenstadt. This is the 4th and last of the Walking with God: The Sermon Series of Howard Thurman. This volume concerns his thought, his emphasis on meditation, introspection, and self-discovery as the key to the religious life. He often spoke and wrote of his belief in a pervading sense of a divine presence, a presence that existed both within and outside of organized religions and religious institutions and could be found everywhere. But its most important location was within each of us.
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The Bridgespan Group
A global nonprofit that strives to make the world more equitable and just. Advises and collaborates with many of the world’s social change leaders including philanthropists, nonprofit and NGO leaders, and impact investors, to find solutions to economic and social barriers that perpetuate inequities and prevent individuals, families, and communities from having access to opportunities they need to thrive. Services include strategy consulting and advising, sourcing and diligence, and leadership team support. They take what they learn from this work and build on it with original research, identifying best practices and innovative ideas to share with the social sector. Learn more.
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Discerning Deacons
Engages Catholics in the active discernment of about women and the diaconate in the church. Supports educational opportunities and conversations in parishes and communities so that everyone can participate in the discernment -- particularly on St. Phoebe Day (September 3rd). Learn more.
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Laudate Deum (Praise God)
An apostolic exhortation from Pope Francis building on his 2015 encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si (Praise Be to You Lord). He writes that the world is not reacting fast enough and that we’re close to the breaking point. He criticizes climate change deniers, saying that the human origin of global warming is now beyond doubt. And he describes how care for our common home flows from the Christian faith. Read more.
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The Land Is Not Our Own: Seeking Repair Alongside Indigenous Communities
A program from JustFaith Ministries that inspires and equips people of faith to stand alongside Native communities in working for justice and repair. This small group process lays a foundation of trust and relationship, so that together participants can acknowledge injustice and honor the interconnectedness of all Creation, seeking healing, repair, and hope. Participants consider the sacred connection to one another and to the earth itself, learning from indigenous artists, activists and leaders.
Explores specific topics such as:
- The annexation of Native lands
- The genocide of Native peoples
- Children stolen from Native families
- The crisis of murdered and missing Indigenous women
Consists of eight 2-hour sessions and an immersion experience. Learn more.
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The Coalition to Dismantle
the Doctrine of Discovery
A group of people working together to mobilize Christian church communities to dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery and follow Indigenous leadership. Proclaims an Anabaptist spirit of discipleship rooted in the call to love of neighbor, seeking right relationship and reconciliation through active non-violence. Learn more.
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The Dark History of the Suburbs
A short illustrated video from TED Ed, that explores the legacy of how racial covenants - clauses that were written into property deeds beginning in the 1800s -- were used to prevent future owners from selling or leasing to certain racial groups, especially Black people. These racial covenants spread like wildfire throughout the US, making cities more segregated and the suburbs more restricted. Watch now.
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How "Second Chance" Laws Could Transform the U.S. Justice System
A TED Talk, featuring Sheena Meade, who makes the case for "clean slate" laws that streamline the complicated process for the 30 million people in the U.S. who are eligible to have their arrest and conviction record cleared -- increasing access to work, housing and education opportunities. Most of the people who qualify either can't afford it or simply don't know it's an option. She points out how her team at the Clean Slate Initiative has already helped pass these laws in six US states and how they're now working to unlock record clearance for millions more, so everyone can get a true shot at becoming their best selves. Watch now.
For more on the Criminal Justice System,
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LawyerEdu
Offers a guide with over 100 different articles, websites and books in support of communities for academics, students, police departments, and anyone working in the criminal justice system. Includes resources on:
- Racial disparities in policing
- Facts and data on anti-Black racism in policing
- Criminal justice reform
- Organizations hoping to motivate change
- Advocacy and procedural justice
- Books and podcasts
For more on the Criminal Justice System,
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Soloito-A Memoir
By Javier Zamora. The true story of the author's three-thousand-mile journey to the U.S. to reunite with a mother who left four years ago and a father he barely remembers. Traveling alone as a nine year old amid a group of strangers, he leaves his small town in El Salvador, goes through Guatemala and Mexico, and across the U.S. border with a “coyote” hired to lead them to safety. Expecting his trip to last two weeks, he encounters perilous boat trips, relentless desert treks, pointed guns, arrests and deceptions that expand his trek to two months. The book provides an immediate and intimate account not only of a treacherous and near-impossible journey, but also of the miraculous kindness and love delivered at the most unexpected moments from other migrants who come to encircle him like an unexpected family along the way. Read more.
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The Problem of Twelve: When a Few Financial Institutions Control Everything
By John Coates. Calls attention to the situation when a small number of institutions acquire the means to exert outsized influence over the politics and economy of a nation. Specifically addresses the index funds of Vanguard, State Street, Fidelity, and BlackRock which control more than twenty percent of the votes of S&P 500 companies—a concentration of power that’s unprecedented in America. Also highlights the rise of private equity funds such as Apollo, Blackstone, Carlyle and KKR, which has amassed $2.7 trillion of assets, and are eroding the legitimacy and accountability of American capitalism, not by controlling public companies, but by taking them over entirely, and removing them from public discourse and public scrutiny. Argues that this quiet accumulation in the last few decades represents a dramatic transformation in how the American economy operates. Read more.
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How Gerrymandering Can Impact an Election
A short illustrated video from TED Ed, that shows how district lines, and the groups of voters within them, may seem arbitrary, but a lot of thought (and political bickering) is put into them. From "packing" a district to "cracking" a district--their boundaries impact political parties during election season.
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Seven Days
A short documentary in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the passage of the 1968 Fair Housing Act and the National Fair Housing Alliance’s 30th Anniversary. Chronicles the seven days between the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the passage of the Fair Housing Act. Watch now.
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The Side of Grace
Let us be hated
For who we love.
Let us be excluded
for those we include.
Let us be judged
For who we pardon.
Let us be known
As a church
That takes compassion
A little too far.
And when our backs
Are up against the wall
Forced to make a choice
And take a stand.
Let us always
Always
Always
Err on the side
Of grace.
By Karen Kaiser
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Important Dates This Month
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November 13th: Anniversary of the Publication,
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Individuals Honored This Month |
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November 8th
I have long since come to believe that people never mean half of what they say, and that it is best to disregard their talk and judge only their actions.
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November 9th
Do everything possible so that liberty is victorious over oppression, justice over injustice,
love over hate.
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November 9th
Peace requires the simple but powerful recognition that what we have in common as human beings is more important and crucial than what divides us.
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November 14th
Only by being a man or woman for others, does one become fully human.
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Since 2017, there have been more than 400,000 visitors to the Social Justice Resource Center website. We provide a wide variety of facts and figures on specific social issues as well as thousands of free resources including films, publications, links to other organizations, prayers, quotes, principles of social justice, key dates throughout the year, action ideas, Diocesan office contact information and biographies of famous people who have worked for social justice.
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