Dear President,

Many of our people need help they don't know how to get. This is not a financial issue, but a mental one. 15 million Americans suffer from depression and they don't know how or where they can receive help. Several of these people commit suicide or at least have suicidal thoughts. In 2015 alone 42,773 people committed suicide. All of those people affected 6 people they were close to. 90% of those people had depression. 9 out of 10 people come out of depression unscathed if they receive minimal treatment. Unfortunately very few ever receive treatment due to them not knowing where it may be found. Depression costs the US 83 billion annually in work loss. Suicide costs the US 44 billion annually. 127 billion dollars per year on an easily remedied issue. In your time in office that’s 508 billion in a single term. 1.2 trillion in two terms. All we need is swift and effective action.

Say that more funding were to be given to the corporations that deal with mental health problems, and if additional measures were taken, such as advertising for the people who don’t know where to go. Maybe if some public clinics that kept the identities of its patients anonymous, because another reason few people get help is because of embarrassment. It could help if schools were required to teach more about these issues and teach where help can be found. These actions could drastically reduce the amount of people who commit suicide or have depression. The immediate cost will be considerable, but the long term gain will be greater. It would also prevent a large amount of pain among American families.

I have personal and painful experience in this issue. My uncle committed suicide when I was a young boy, only 7 years old. This scarred me badly and I believe allowed depression to take root in me as a teenager in middle school. I didn’t know where to get help and so I powered through it. I was one of the lucky ones who didn’t simply fall deeper into depression. Many people aren’t so lucky. Many parents never know when their children are depressed or suicidal. How would you feel if you woke up to hear your child had ended their life, all because they didn’t know where to turn to for help? Could a parent or loved one stand the guilt of knowing they were suffering and no one ever knew?

I ask you to make a change in our nation. I ask you to fix a problem people would prefer to ignore or forget. This issue costs us a great deal, even if it is one that few people dare to complain about. It’s solution is so simple, yet no one has taken any significant action in a long time. Do something that will make a difference in our country. Be remembered as the President that saved us billions of dollars and thousands of lives, by saving millions from depression. Make a difference in our nation.

Sincerely,

Cameron