Writing a National Prescription to Improve the Mental Health of America's Youth

October 5-11 is Mental Illness Awareness Week, a time to mark the importance of mental health to an individual's overall wellbeing. In a national online survey released last month, 90 percent of American adults reported the belief that mental health and physical health were equally essential for their own overall health. This perspective must also be underscored for our nation's youth given the high prevalence of mental disorders among children and adolescents in the United States.