Mental Health

For many years, the Milken Institute has been leading conversations on the social and biological drivers of holistic wellness by looking at the root causes of mental health and substance-use disorders. We accelerate action by convening leaders in government, academia, technology, industry, nonprofit, and more to inform and advance programmatic work—including supporting research to understand the human brain, leading recommendations on reshaping the health system, dismantling stigma, and making care more accessible. 

Given the complexity of mental health, constituencies need to come together to listen, learn, generate solutions, and iterate until we disrupt the misnomers, misunderstandings, and harmful effects of stigmatizing mental health. The Institute’s long history of bringing together resources and key stakeholders puts us at the nexus of this conversation, particularly as it relates to employers, impact on and by the business community, and the development and critical analysis of the care system.  

For example, the Milken Institute has helped build employers’ awareness about the supply and demand for illicit drugs, the lack of access to addiction treatment, the ways in which COVID-19 aggravated the pre-existing addiction crisis, and the unique role employers can play in addressing addiction and mental health. The program helps organizations recognize public health interventions they can offer employees and examines the barriers these employees may encounter in taking action. These scalable models identify internal policies for workforces, use data for solutions, and help to remove stigmatizing language around addiction, prevention, treatment, and recovery.

We know that a person’s physical health, relationships, ability to pursue professional success, and more are intricately tied to their holistic wellness. Navigating  this “always on” world, widespread feelings of loneliness and isolation, and the reality of biological conditions that cause addiction, bipolar disorder, and other diseases of the brain, can make achieving mental wellness seem impossible to achieve—inhibiting the building of a meaningful life. 
The Milken Institute will continue to share and innovatively amplify the work that we conduct in this field, seeking opportunities to drive productive conversations and critical movement toward better outcomes around the various facets of mental health with a focus on improving access, innovation, and investment.