A new, editorially independent, digital publication focused on mental health, resilience and recovery

The U.S. and much of the world is in the midst of a deepening and poorly understood mental health crisis – a crisis that was festering long before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The enormous increase in mental and psychological suffering during the pandemic – reflected in rising rates of depression, anxiety and calls to suicide lines – has pushed mental health issues into the open and drawn the attention of policymakers, journalists and the public. It has made clearer than ever the deeply fractured and dysfunctional nature of our so-called “mental health system.”

At the same time, police shootings of people of color with mental illness, and rising awareness of the huge number of people suffering from mental health issues who are incarcerated, have further exposed the deep racial inequities in the workings of the mental health and criminal justice systems. In the eleven months between the killing of George Floyd and the conviction of Derek Chauvin, 181 people with a history of mental illness were killed by police in the U.S.

Perhaps no issue is as poorly understood – and poorly covered by the media – as mental health, even though few have such an outsized impact on the wellbeing of people, communities and our society as a whole. Yet this mental health crisis is unfolding at a time when newspapers and other media outlets are shrinking and journalism jobs being eliminated. Experienced health reporters are vanishing, and the number of dedicated mental health reporters can be counted on a few hands.

The time is ripe – indeed, it is long past due – for a new journalism enterprise dedicated to covering this landscape with passion and rigor. We believe this is exactly the right moment for such a publication, and we are pleased to introduce MindSite News, a digital news publication that will expose and define the mental health crisis in America — and help point the way to solutions.

We invite you to join us on this journey and become readers, subscribers and supporters of MindSite News. We will work hard to earn your trust.