Welcome to Season 5 of Public Health On Call, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

I'm Joshua Sharfstein, Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement, and a former health commissioner here in Baltimore, Maryland.

Our goal with this podcast is to bring scientific evidence and experience to shed light on critical

health issues. If you have questions or ideas for us, please send an email to public health

question at jhhhu.edu. That's public health question at jh.u.t.u. For future podcast episodes.

Hi, I'm Lindsay Smith-Rogers, producer of public health on call. Depression, anxiety, suicide.

Today, the topic is America's mental health crisis. Dr. Josh Sharfstein speaks to Kristen Link Young,

the deputy assistant to President Biden

for Health and Veterans Affairs.

They discuss the president's mental health agenda,

including expanding the workforce,

improving access to care and prevention.

Let's listen.

So May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we're excited at Public

Health on Call to welcome Kristen Link Young, who is an advisor to President Biden on mental

health issues. The president, as part of his unity agenda, announced a strategy to address

our national mental health crisis.

Thanks so much for being here.

Glad to be here. Thanks for having me.

So why is the president focusing on mental health now?

So I can certainly start with the statistics, which are incredibly alarming.

40% of American adults now report symptoms of anxiety or depression. Among young people,

...