USA TODAY

In a series of stories this year, USA TODAY is exploring the human and financial costs the country pays for not caring more about the nearly 10 million Americans with serious mental illness.

The series examines how stigma and discrimination prevent people with mental illness from receiving life-changing care and services, and why so many people with mental illness become prisoners of addiction.

USA TODAY will describe where people go when they fall through the cracks: overcrowded emergency rooms; overburdened jails and prisons; city streets; the morgue. Lastly, the series will present solutions that have the potential to dramatically improve patients' lives.

PART 1.Mental health system drowns from neglect

PART 2.People with mental illness suffer in sick health system

PART 3.Mental illness cases swamp criminal justice system

Join the conversation at #mentalhealthstigma.