We need a new way to think about mental health − one that recognizes every person’s role in tackling the crisis that surrounds us.

We all know this crisis exists. After the COVID-19 pandemic, record numbers of people have reported mental health challenges. About 20% of U.S. adults − nearly 60 million Americans − have a diagnosable mental illness. Nearly 40% of high school students − and half of high school girls − say their mental health has struggled in recent years. Anxiety, depression and suicide have soared. So has addiction, which about 1 in 5 Americans now struggle with.

Amid this crisis, government at all levels is desperately trying to make a difference, mainly through new programs and funding streams. President Joe Biden’s proposed 2024 budget, for instance, envisions a 44% increase in federal spending on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. In the State of the Union address, he called for funding “more mental health workers.”

And states like Florida and Virginia are now spending record amounts on mental health services.

Yet more money and more workers aren’t silver bullets. It’s true that America has just one mental health professional for every 350 people who need........

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