Mental Health, Addiction, and the Cost of Cutting Support
Mental health problems and substance use disorder (SUD) often go hand in hand. Many people struggling with anxiety, depression, or trauma turn to drugs or alcohol to cope. But using substances can make mental health issues worse, creating a dangerous cycle.
In 2021, around 46.3 million people in the U.S. had a substance use disorder, but only 6.3% got the treatment they needed (SAMHSA, 2022). On top of that, nearly half of people with a serious mental illness also have a substance use problem (Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, 2023).
This means we cannot separate mental health care from addiction treatment. Both need to be addressed together to help people fully recover. Millions of people are fighting battles on two fronts, and most aren't getting the help they need. With proposed cuts to SAMSHA, this could cause serious harm.
If you’ve lost someone to substance use, you know the pain. The what-ifs never go away.
What if they had gotten help sooner?
What if treatment was easier to access?
What if they had been given a second chance?
For so many families, these aren’t just thoughts. They are real regrets, playing over and over in their minds.
Right now, there are discussions in Washington about cutting funding for certain health programs—including services that help people struggling with mental health and substance use. While budgets change all the time, what’s being considered could have serious consequences for communities across the country.
Why This Matters
Programs like the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) depend on federal funding to provide treatment, overdose prevention, and recovery services. For 2025, SAMHSA requested $8.1 billion to continue its work (Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association, 2024).
These programs save lives by funding:
✔ Mental health treatment for people in crisis.
✔ Naloxone (Narcan) distribution to reverse opioid overdoses.
✔ Recovery programs that help people rebuild their lives.
But there are new budget plans in motion that focus on cutting health-related funding—including money that helps programs like these survive (Wall Street Journal, 2025).
This Isn’t Just Policy—It’s Life and Death
There’s talk of cutting funding to health services, including mental health and addiction treatment. These are the programs that:
✔ Provide treatment for people who are desperate for help.
✔ Make sure naloxone (Narcan) is available to stop overdoses before it’s too late.
✔ Fund recovery programs that give people a real chance to rebuild.
SAMHSA, the agency responsible for many of these programs, has asked for $8.1 billion to continue its work in 2025 (Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association, 2024). But new budget proposals aim to cut health funding, putting these life-saving services at risk (Wall Street Journal, 2025).
If this money is taken away, more people will die.
We don’t have to guess. We already know:
When access to treatment drops, overdose rates go up.
When people can’t get Narcan, more families plan funerals.
When funding disappears, loved ones slip through the cracks—again and again.
A Thought to Consider
Budgets show priorities. They tell us what matters to those in charge.
So when life-saving programs are on the chopping block while other areas of spending continue untouched, it’s worth asking why.
If you’ve ever held your breath, waiting for the phone to ring…
If you’ve ever prayed someone would turn their life around before it was too late…
If you’ve ever buried someone you love because help didn’t come in time…
Then you know—this is not just about numbers on a spreadsheet.
This is about real people, real families, real heartbreak.
So when leaders make choices that pull support away from those who need it most, we have to ask:
How many more people have to die before they realize what they’ve done?
Because once the funding is gone, the services go with it. And when that happens…
We all know what comes next.
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A Personal Note: I want to be clear—this is not about lobbying, politics, or pushing an agenda.
This is about something deeply personal to me. As someone who runs a nonprofit dedicated to honoring those we’ve lost to substance use and supporting families left behind, I have seen firsthand the devastation this crisis causes. This is about people.
I am speaking from the perspective of someone who works in this space every day, listening to the grief, the heartbreak, and the stories of those fighting for their lives. My concern is simple: if we take away the programs that save lives, more families will experience the pain of losing someone they love.
This is not about who is in office. It is about ensuring that resources remain available for those who need them. Because when funding disappears, the impact is not political—it is deeply personal, and it is felt in communities like ours.
I am not here to tell anyone what to believe. I am here because I care about this issue, and I know that so many others do too.
