Information About Mental Health and Mental Illness
 The topics in this section provide general information about mental illness. If you are a consumer or family member seeking more detailed information about strategies for wellness, we encourage you to visit Know Your Illness in our Recovery section.
- Between 28 and 30 percent of the U.S. population has a mental health disorder, substance abuse disorder, or both.
- Although about nine percent of American adults have depression, less than four percent have been diagnosed with the disorder and only one-fifth will receive the care they need to treat the condition.
- As many as 8 million Americans who have serious mental illnesses do not receive adequate treatment each year, usually because they have no insurance benefits or have exhausted their benefits.
- One in five American families has at least one member who lacks health insurance coverage, a situation that can place the entire family at risk for poor health and financial ruin.
- Untreated and mistreated mental illness costs the United States $150 billion in lost productivity and $8 billion in crime and welfare expenditures each year.
For more information visit:
American Psychiatric Association (external)
- Five to nine percent of children in the U.S. have a serious emotional disturbance.
- Only about 21 percent of children in the United States who need mental health services actually receive them.
- About 13 percent of children between 9 and 17 years old have an anxiety disorder.
- About four percent of school-age children have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
- Nearly four percent of boys and more than six percent of girls have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder caused by violence they have endured or witnessed.
- Nearly two-thirds of boys and three-quarters of girls in juvenile detention centers have a psychiatric disorder.
- Kids who say other students bully them at school are 50 percent more likely to admit they brought weapons to school during the past month than students who've never bullied or been bullied.
- About every two hours, a young person kills himself or herself.
- Three million teenagers have considered or attempted suicides in the past year.
- Suicide is the third leading cause of death among people under 24 years old after accidents and homicide.
Also see:
Children and Adolescent Suicide
Youth, Depression and Substance Use
For more information visit:
American Psychiatric Association (external)
- Nearly 15 percent of college students have been diagnosed with depression.
- Seven percent of college students have an anxiety disorder.
- Up to two percent of all college-aged women have bulemia nervosa. Nearly four percent of females will have anorexia at some point during their lifetime.
- About one-third of college students (32 %) report levels of stress that affect their school performance. Fifteen percent report depression and anxiety as factors affecting their ability to succeed at school.
- Seventy-seven percent of college juniors reported feeling depressed either "frequently" or "occasionally" during the past year.
- About one student in five reports that they have sought personal counseling since entering college.
- The suicide rate among males between the ages of 15 and 24 has nearly quadrupled over the last 60 years, and the rate among females in the same group has doubled.
For more information visit:
American Psychiatric Association (external)
- One in four people report they've missed work as a result of work-related stress.
- Workplace environments have a greater effect on employee stress levels than the number of hours employees work.
- Seventy-five percent of visits to doctors' offices concern stress-related ailments.
- In a typical workplace with 20 employees, four will likely develop a mental illness this year.
- Mental health conditions are the second leading cause of workplace absenteeism.
- People who have untreated mental health issues use more general health services than those who seek mental health care when they need it.
- More than three out of four employees who seek care for workplace issues or mental health problems see substantial improvement in work performance after treatment.
- Untreated and mistreated mental illness costs the United States $105 billion in lost productivity each year, and U.S. businesses foot up to $44 billion of this bill.
- Anxiety-related disorders cost the United States $42 billion a year in work-related and medical losses.
- Workers who abuse drugs cost their employers twice as much in medical and worker compensation claims as workers who do not abuse drugs.
For more information about workplace mental health visit:
www.workplacementalhealth.org (external) For more information about mental health of military personnel and veterans visit:
American Psychiatric Association (external)
Veteran Resources at NAMI (external)
- About 11 percent of adults over age 55 have an anxiety disorder.
- Up to 20 percent of older adults have significant symptoms of depression.
- Chronic stress can cause premature aging.
- Older adults who are caregivers to spouses or other relatives may be at an increased risk for developing heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, and some cancers due to long-term stress.
- The highest rate of suicide for any age group (19.4 per 100,000) is among people age 85 and older. The second highest rate of suicide (17.7 per 100,000) is among those between age 75 and 84.
- Only about half of older adults who acknowledge that they have mental health problems receive treatment from any health care provider, and only a fraction of those receive specialty mental health services (3 %), the lowest rate among any adult group.
- Older men are far less likely to seek and receive treatment for depression than older women.
- Medical treatment outcomes are worse when complicated by mental health problems. For example, rehabilitation from a hip fracture or a heart attack is less successful and more expensive when complicated by depression.
For more information on mental health in older adults visit:
American Psychiatric Association (external)
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