Inequality and mental health

It is encouraging to see mental health recognized recently as a crucial public health concern.

However, we cannot truly confront this issue without also considering the myriad social and environmental stressors — poverty, violence (domestic and otherwise), the pathogenic effects of racism and other forms of bigotry and discrimination, et al. — that contribute to the ongoing mental health crisis in Chicago and elsewhere in the U.S.

Social inequality is a pathogen and needs to be identified and addressed as such.

David G. Whiteis, Humboldt Park