On Monday, July 29, the non-profit Mental Health America (MHA) released its annual report on the state of mental health in the U.S. MHA stated in its news release that the U.S. is in a mental health crisis. The group found that 23 percent of adults experienced a mental illness in the past year, nearly 60 million Americans.
According to the report, in the last year, five percent of adults and 13 percent of youths reported experiencing severe thoughts of suicide. One in five youths had at least one major depressive episode (MDE), over which half of them did not receive treatment. Of those that received treatment, 65 percent stated that it helped.
In the past year, 18 percent of adults had a substance use disorder (SUD), of which 77 percent did not receive treatment.
Another key finding in the report was that one in four adults with mental distress could not see a doctor due to financial concerns, which is an increase of two percent from the last report.
Ten percent of adults and 8.5 percent of youths have private insurance, which doesn’t cover mental health. There are 340 people for every one mental healthcare provider in the U.S.
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maine were ranked highest for overall mental health and treatment. Nevada, Arizona, and Montana were ranked lowest.
The number of individuals who died by suicide in 2022 was the highest number ever recorded in the U.S., up after slight decreases in 2019 and 2020, MHA stated.
“We are living in a time of poly-crisis when evidence shows that the need for mental health care is urgent. High numbers of adults and youth alike are having serious thoughts of suicide, following a year with a record-high number for completed suicides. Substance use is on the rise, and other indicators of distress and disparity continue to escalate. And yet obstacles such as high costs or a shortage of mental health providers prevent so many Americans from accessing the help they need,” said Schroeder Stribling, president and CEO of MHA, in a statement.
