Mental Health Awareness Month invites us to talk openly about wellbeing. But for many people with disabilities, the deeper issue is not awareness. It is access to a system that was never fully designed to support their mental health needs.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Across New York State, public buildings glow green and campaigns encourage conversations about mental health.
Awareness matters. But awareness alone does not fix systems.
For people with disabilities across New York and the United States, mental health care remains one of the most overlooked gaps in an already fragmented health system. The public conversation frequently centers on visibility and stigma, while the structural barriers that prevent people from receiving care remain largely unchanged.
I know this not only as an advocate, but as a clinician.
I am a Black African American man who has practiced in the mental health field for more than two decades. During those years I have witnessed remarkable resilience from individuals navigating disability and mental health challenges. I have also seen how frequently the systems meant to support them fall short of meeting even the most basic needs.
The data confirms what many of us experience every day.
More than 61 million Americans live with a disability, representing roughly one in four adults in the United States. In New York alone, nearly three million residents live with some form of disability, while millions more experience mental health challenges each year.
Yet the intersection of disability and mental health remains one of the least addressed gaps in our healthcare system.
Adults with disabilities report frequent mental distress nearly five times more often than adults without disabilities. Roughly one-third of adults with disabilities report frequent mental distress, compared with about 7 percent of adults without disabilities.
As both a clinician and an advocate, I believe quantitative data must be part of how we confront inequities faced by people with disabilities. Numbers help expose patterns that institutions can no longer ignore.
But data alone does not change systems.
The lived experiences of people with disabilities — the stories of navigating inaccessible clinics, fragmented care, and stigma — are the qualitative evidence that gives those numbers meaning. Those narratives anchor the urgency for policy reform and help ensure that policy solutions reflect the real lives of the communities they are meant to serve.
The problem begins with access.
Despite decades of disability rights progress, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, people with disabilities continue to encounter significant barriers when seeking mental health care. Physical inaccessibility, limited transportation options, communication barriers, and insufficient telehealth accommodations can make something as basic as scheduling an appointment difficult.
Even when services are available, they are rarely designed with disability in mind.
Across the country, and here in New York, there is a severe shortage of mental health providers trained to work with individuals who have physical disabilities, intellectual or developmental disabilities, or complex medical conditions. This gap exists within a broader national shortage of behavioral health professionals, leaving many people waiting weeks or months for care.
Another challenge lies in the fragmentation of our health systems.
Physical health services, disability support programs, and behavioral health systems frequently operate in separate silos. The result is a model of care where individuals must coordinate their own treatment across multiple systems, often without the resources or support to do so.
Yet mental health and physical health cannot be separated.
People with disabilities experience higher rates of trauma, chronic pain, abuse, and social isolation. Each of these factors is strongly associated with anxiety, depression, and psychological distress.
Isolation alone can have profound consequences. Many individuals face barriers that limit social participation, employment opportunities, and community engagement. The emotional toll of exclusion from everyday life rarely receives attention in healthcare policy, yet it deeply shapes mental wellbeing.
Economic realities further compound the issue.
In 2024, the employment-population ratio for people with disabilities was about 22.7 percent, compared with more than 65 percent for people without disabilities. This persistent economic gap shapes access to health care and other essential supports.
When resources are scarce, physical survival often takes priority over mental health treatment.
Medication, therapy, and supportive services become luxuries rather than necessities.
As a result, many people with disabilities rely heavily on public programs for care. Nationally, nearly 40 percent of non-elderly adults enrolled in Medicaid live with a disability, and Medicaid remains the largest payer of mental health services in the United States. When behavioral health systems fail to address disability competence, the consequences ripple through the very programs meant to provide care.
Stigma also plays a powerful role.
People with disabilities frequently encounter a double stigma. They face discrimination related both to disability and to mental health conditions. In healthcare settings this can translate into dehumanizing attitudes, where individuals are seen as problems to be managed rather than people deserving dignity and comprehensive care.
As a mental health practitioner, I have watched how these attitudes discourage individuals from seeking help.
When someone already navigating structural barriers is made to feel invisible, misunderstood, or dismissed by the very systems meant to support them, the message becomes painfully clear. Their mental health is not treated as a priority.
But it must be.
Mental health care for people with disabilities cannot remain an afterthought in policy discussions. It must be integrated into the core design of healthcare systems.
That means investing in disability-competent behavioral health training for clinicians.
It means designing healthcare environments that are physically and digitally accessible.
It means integrating mental health care into disability support services rather than treating them as separate systems.
And it means recognizing that mental wellness is not optional. It is foundational to full participation in community life.
Mental Health Awareness Month asks the public to talk more openly about mental wellbeing.
But awareness alone is not the measure of progress.
The real test is whether our systems are designed to care for everyone.
Until people with disabilities can access mental health care with dignity, expertise, and equity, awareness will remain only the beginning.
Marcus D. Johnson, CRC-CVE, LMHC, is a disability rights activist, certified rehabilitation counselor, and mental health practitioner with more than two decades of experience. He serves as Manager of Advocacy Programs and Initiatives at Independence Care System and co-leads the Civics League for Disability Rights, where he works to advance disability-competent healthcare policy and systemic reform for people with physical disabilities.
Opinions expressed are solely those of the writer(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Able News at The Viscardi Center and/or The Viscardi Center.