1 in 5 adults in US suffer from mental illness
POSTED November 22, 2010 - 11:43 | POSTED BY neha gupta
Last edited by Silky Chandvani on November 22, 2010 - 13:13
According to the report, almost 11 million or 4.8 percent of these adults aged 18 years and above suffered from serious mental illness.
Major depressive episodes were witnessed in 2 million young youths aged between 12 to 17 years, of which 35.7 percent were addicted to drugs.
Women were at a higher risk of developing mental disorders as compared to men, 23.8 percent versus 15.6 percent.
One million attempted committed suicide
In all, 8.4 million citizens had seriously thought about committing suicide, 2.2 million had actually developed a suicidal plan while another one million tried committing suicide during 2009, according to the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Also, substance abuse disorder was observed among 20 percent of the mental illness patients.
The rate increased up to 25.7 percent for people suffering from serious mental illnesses, almost 4 times greater than those without a serious disorder.
Such mental illnesses were found to be greater among those who were without work as compared to those with full-time jobs, 27.7 percent versus 17.1 percent.
Young adults reported the highest number of such disorders while people aged 50 and above reported the lowest, 30 percent versus 13.7 percent.
Very few received medical help
In spite of the shocking number of mental disorder cases, only 37.9 of the mentally ill patients received appropriate mental health services.
"Too many Americans are not getting the help they need and opportunities to prevent and intervene early are being missed," SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde said in an agency news release.
"The consequences for individuals, families and communities can be devastating. If left untreated mental illnesses can result in disability, substance abuse, suicides, lost productivity, and family discord. Through health care reform and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act we can help far more people get needed treatment for behavioral health problems," she said.
The study findings are scheduled to be presented at the World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and Prevention of Mental and Behavioral Disorders in Washington D.C.
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