The county’s mental health has taken a nosedive in recent years.
It’s the state’s wealthiest county, and one of its healthiest, but recent changes in the economy, lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recent political and economic turmoil have taken a toll on psyches, experts say.
“We all like a sense of security,” said Sharon Dietsche, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Montgomery County. “I think that feeling has been ruptured.”
County data from 2025 and recent years corroborates what local mental health advocates told The Banner — that more county residents report struggles with anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses.
Calls for county health crisis services jumped 17% in fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024.
There were 96 deaths by suicide in the county in 2024, which is 11 more than the previous year. The most recent data available from the CDC shows that 107 people died by suicide in Montgomery County between August 2024 and July 2025.
Some of these increases trace back to the pandemic, said Monica Martin, the county’s chief of Behavioral Health and Crisis Services. Emergency room visits related to intimate partner violence, for example, have increased by nearly 6% in the county since 2020.
Many point to particularly deep dips in mental health indicators in the past year, as county residents — including thousands of federal workers and a significant proportion of immigrants — reel from cuts to federal payrolls and aggressive efforts to detain and deport people born outside the U.S.
The mental health of those within marginalized groups — including Black, Latino and queer people — took a particularly hard hit, the numbers show.
Dietsche sees the demand for counseling and other mental health services rising at NAMI.
But she has less money to handle her growing caseload. In the year since President Donald Trump took office, the federal government has slashed grants and programs that support nonprofits like hers.
“People aren’t sleeping,” she said. “They’re worried about how they’re going to make ends meet — and that all impacts mental health.”
Those most affected
County officials have tried to address what many describe as a deepening mental health crisis that began before Trump took office.
Kate Stewart, who represents District 4 on the County Council, spent much of the past year working on an initiative to improve the mental health of county residents. An Office of Legislative Oversight report commissioned by Stewart and released in September 2025 found that the county is falling short in its response to mental health crises and support calls.
More than 114,000 calls were made to county helplines and 911 for mental health support in 2024, according to the report.
Particularly among immigrants and federal workers, “we’ve really seen an increase in the stress of people’s lives,” Stewart said.
The latest county health data shows significant mental health disparities between white county residents and other groups that mirror national trends and past county studies.
Most callers to the county’s helpline in 2024 were Black, at 53%, while 25% were white, 8% were Asian, 7% were Latino and 7% were multiracial. (Only 11% of callers disclosed their race, however, so this sample is likely not representative of all callers.)
Black and Hispanic women in Montgomery County were most likely to be admitted to the emergency room after experiencing domestic violence, according to Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission Hospitalization data.
Most county data did not account for LGBTQ+ individuals, but advocates in the community say they are seeing an increase in demand for mental health services from queer and trans people.
These anecdotes track with an October Trevor Project report that found an increase in anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation in LGBTQ+ youths over the past year.
“This doesn’t surprise me, given just how much hateful rhetoric exists right now in our society,” said Ethan Mereish, director of the Lavender Lab in the department of psychology at the University of Maryland.
In the past year, the federal and many state governments have rolled back protections for queer people.
Phillip Alexander Downie, CEO of the MoCo Pride Center, has said he has seen the consequences first hand: The number of people who have sought help with their mental health has risen since November 2024. Demand outstrips the center’s resources, he said.
“When federal protections are rolled back or even threatened, it tells queer and trans people that their lives are negotiable, which is unacceptable, and that message fuels fear, isolation and hopelessness,” Downie said.
Mereish said those who study mental health disparities between majority and marginalized groups often explain them through the lens of minority stress theory.
The theory holds that health disparities stem from the prejudice and discrimination these groups encounter at many levels — from within their own families to the larger culture.
“People can internalize these stressors in a way that then make them think negatively about themselves, have shame about their identities, or have to hide one’s identity because they’re not sure if one place is safe versus another,” Mereish said.
Searching for solutions
“In a perfect world, everybody could call one line and get connected to their ideal behavioral health support,” said Martin, the county’s chief of Behavioral Health and Crisis Services.
And better yet, she added, those clinicians would have the cultural expertise to offer members of marginalized groups the most appropriate and effective care.
But Maryland — like most states — suffers from a shortage of behavioral health care workers.
An October 2024 state report showed that the state needed 40,000 more behavioral health workers — such as psychiatrists, therapists and social workers— to meet its needs.
Programs like NAMI’s specialized peer groups, Martin said, would be a temporary fix. Within Black, queer, and other peer groups, she added, people can feel most comfortable and support each other.
While those meetings don’t replace traditional therapy, Dietsche said, they provide a sense of community that can improve mental health.
Downie tries to do something similar at the MoCo Pride Center, which offers programs like support groups, to make people struggling with mental health issues feel less alone.
Sometimes that just means making sure someone has enough to eat, he added.
“Mental health definitely starts in the gut, so we’re making sure that people are fed. Anyone can stop by any time and get a snack or a meal.”
These connections can lead people to other programs, he continued, that help them find jobs and stable housing, which can in turn improve mental health
Similarly, Mereish said, if officials want to tackle mental health, they need to address unemployment, the lack of affordable housing and food insecurity.
“Therapists are great and have an important purpose, but we can’t fix it all,” he said. “We can’t be the only ones who are responsible for fixing these societal problems.”
If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.