Educational Topics and Articles
America's Battle With Mental Health Support
"Despite the mandates of the 1996 Mental Health Parity Act, our mental health systems are plagued with barriers to equal access and treatment for persons with mental illness. Factors contributing to the dilemma include the fragile safety net of local and state programs; lack of adequate insurance coverage for mental health; limited access to and utilization of quality mental health services; high costs of psychotropic medications, psychotherapeutic treatments, and behavioral rehabilitation; poor coordination of mental health services with primary health care; limited integration of services for co-occurring mental and substance abuse disorders; lack of attention to the specific needs of vulnerable populations; and a dearth of mental health professionals who are members of racial/ethnic minorities."
Kisha Braithwaite
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Community Voices, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, G
2022 Findings by Mental Health America (MHA)
In 2019, just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 19.86% of adults experienced a mental illness, equivalent to nearly 50 million Americans.
Suicidal ideation continues to increase among adults in the U.S. 4.58% of adults report having serious thoughts of suicide, an increase of 664,000 people from last year’s dataset. The national rate of suicidal ideation among adults has increased every year since 2011-2012. This was a larger increase than seen in last year’s report and is a concerning trend to see going into the COVID-19 pandemic.
A growing percentage of youth in the U.S. live with major depression. 15.08% of youth experienced a major depressive episode in the past year, a 1.24% increase from last year’s dataset. In the bottom-ranked states, up to 19% of youth ages 12-17 experienced major depression.
Over 2.5 million youth in the U.S. have severe depression, and multiracial youth are at greatest risk. 10.6% of youth in the U.S. have severe major depression (depression that severely affects functioning). The rate of severe depression was highest among youth who identified as more than one race, at 14.5% (more than one in every seven multiracial youth).
Over half of adults with a mental illness do not receive treatment, totaling over 27 million adults in the U.S. who are going untreated. In Hawaii, the bottom-ranked state, 67% of adults with a mental illness did not receive treatment. Even in Vermont, the top-ranked state in the U.S., 43% of adults experiencing a mental illness were not receiving treatment.
The percentage of adults with a mental illness who report unmet need for treatment has increased every year since 2011. In 2019, 24.7% of adults with a mental illness report an unmet need for treatment.
Over 60% of youth with major depression do not receive any mental health treatment. Even in states with the greatest access, nearly one in three are going without treatment. In Texas, the bottom-ranked state for this indicator, nearly three-quarters of youth with depression did not receive mental health treatment.
Nationally, fewer than 1 in 3 youth with severe depression receive consistent mental health care. Even among youth with severe depression who receive some treatment, only 27% received consistent care. In Tennessee, the bottom-ranked state, that rate is as low as 12%. 65.6% of youth in Maine (ranked 1st) received consistent treatment, which is 16% higher than Vermont (49.7%) which is ranked 2nd.
Both adults and youth in the U.S. continue to lack adequate insurance coverage. 11.1% of Americans with a mental illness are uninsured. There was a 0.3% increase from last year’s dataset, the second year in a row that this indicator increased since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). 8.1% of children had private insurance that did not cover mental health services, totaling 950,000 youth.
Organizations and Foundations to support
Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Help raise awareness about the importance of child and adolescent mental health by sharing informational materials based on the latest research. Share science. Share hope. https://go.usa.gov/xvWKK #shareNIMH
Teen Depression
Being a teenager can be tough, but it shouldn’t feel hopeless. Check your symptoms, and find out what you can do if you think you might have depression. https://go.usa.gov/xFWnV #shareNIMH
Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Traumatic Events
Learn what caregivers and family members can do to help children and adolescents cope with traumatic events. https://go.usa.gov/xtw7B #shareNIMH
cited sources
Braithwaite K. Mending Our Broken Mental Health Systems. Am J Public Health. 2006 Oct;96(10):1724. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2006.096552. PMCID: PMC1586148.
The state of Mental Health in America. Mental Health America. (n.d.). Retrieved August 7, 2022, from https://www.mhanational.org/issues/state-mental-health- america#:~:text=In%202019%2C%2024.7%25%20of%20adults,three%20are%20going%20without%20treatment.