White Coats In The Streets: Psychiatrists History At APA 2025

For generations, psychiatrists have lobbied from committee rooms and congressional offices. On May 18, 2025, they took their fight to the pavement. Outside the American Psychiatric Association’s Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, psychiatrists from across the country rallied behind two urgent demands printed on banners: “No cuts to Medicaid. Restore SAMHSA. Stand up for Public Health”.

A First for the Profession

Colleagues noted the rally was the first large-scale street demonstration ever held by psychiatrists at an APA meeting. Past APA president Steven S. Sharfstein, MD told the crowd, "Public health is mental health. If we gut Medicaid and dismantle SAMHSA, every community will feel the loss." Clinicians recited grim figures—nearly 60 million adults living with mental illness, 50 000 suicide deaths in 2023 and 90 000 overdose deaths last year.

Why They Marched Now

Psychiatrists rallied exactly seven weeks after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a sweeping reorganization that eliminated SAMHSA, cutting more than half its staff and freezing grants that fund crisis lines, community clinics, overdose-prevention programs, and more. At the same time, Congressional leaders were advancing a budget blueprint that would strip $880 billion from Medicaid over the next decade, gutting the nation’s largest payer of mental-health and substance-use care and jeopardizing coverage for 72 million Americans. This includes more than 900,000 individuals across San Diego County, including 300,000 children.

With both pillars of the behavioral health safety net under sudden and simultaneous assault, many psychiatrists and patients alike felt that traditional letter-writing was no longer enough; a visible, public stand during Mental Health Awareness Month—and in front of the APA’s own annual meeting—was the fastest way to sound the alarm for patients, APA members, and policymakers alike.

A Historic Moment

Physician activism is not new—but public street demonstrations are rare in psychiatry. Sunday’s turnout signaled a profession ready to step outside traditional advocacy lanes when patients and safety nets are on the line.

The strategy seems to have worked, with rally being covered by local news and mental health publications alike.

Whether Congress heeds the warning remains to be seen. But by marching in Los Angeles, psychiatrists added a new tool to their advocacy kit—and reminded policymakers that white coats can be seen as well as heard.

Eric Rafla-Yuan, M.D., is legislative representative for the San Diego Psychiatric Society, vice president of AGLP: The Association of LGBTQ+ Psychiatrists, and chair of APA’s Caucus on the Social Determinants of Mental Health.