Study Finds

One in Five American Adults with Mental Illness

One in five adults age 18 and older in 2010 experienced mental illness in the past year, affecting 45.9 million adults across the United States, according to a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) report released in January. The report also found that 5.0 percent (11.4 million adults) suffered from serious mental illness. Adults experiencing mental illness were more than three times as likely to have met the criteria for substance dependence or abuse in that period than those who had not experienced mental illness (20.0 percent versus 6.1 percent).

These findings were part of SAMHSA’s 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Findings, which helps inform the health care community about the need to reduce the impact of mental illness on America’s communities.

The survey defined mental illness among adults age 18 and older as having had a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder (excluding developmental and substance use disorders) in the past year. Serious mental illness was defined as having mental illness that was accompanied by severe impairment in everyday functioning in the past year.

Other findings from the survey showed that the rate of mental illness was more than twice as high among those age 18 to 25 (29.9 percent) than among those age 50 and older (14.3 percent), and adult women were more likely than men to have experienced mental illness in the past year (23.0 percent versus 16.8 percent).

“Mental illnesses can be managed successfully, and people do recover,” said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. “Mental illness is not an isolated public health problem. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity often coexist with mental illness, and treatment of the mental illness can reduce the effects of these disorders.”

The survey showed that about 4 in 10 adults (39.2 percent) experiencing any mental illness in the past year received treatment. The rate of treatment was 60.8 percent for adults experiencing serious mental illness. These findings illustrate the need to continue efforts to increase access to treatment and recovery support services. The Affordable Care Act, signed into law by President Obama in 2010, will help 32 million more people become eligible for health coverage in the United States, enabling access to mental health services.

Through its Prevention of Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Strategic Initiative, SAMHSA is working to assist States, Territories, Tribal governments, and communities to adopt evidencebased mental health practices; deliver health education related to prevention; and establish effective policies, programs, and infrastructure to help address these problems. Throughout the Nation, new programs are under way to strengthen the capacity of communities to better serve the needs of those suffering from mental illness.

Suicide is one area of focus. (See "Using Social Media to Save Lives.") Statistics showed that 8.7 million adults had serious thoughts of suicide in the past year. Among them, 2.5 million made suicide plans, and 1.1 million attempted suicide.

As part of its prevention efforts, SAMHSA recently collaborated with Facebook and the SAMHSA-funded National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to connect people to lifesaving services and curb the incidence of suicide.

The survey was conducted by SAMHSA’s Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. The complete findings are available on the SAMHSA Web site. Hard copies may be obtained by calling 1–877–SAMHSA–7 (1–877–726–4727).