The Current State of Mental Health in America

There is a Mental Health Crisis in the United States

A growing number of American adults are struggling with some type of mental illness with each passing year. In 2019 alone, almost 20 percent of the United States population, nearly 50 million people, were diagnosed with a mental illness. That figure was from data gathered before the COVID-19 pandemic began and thrust an entirely new set of stressors on the American population. These new stressors included but were certainly not limited to, illness, job loss, isolation, rising medical costs, and financial insecurity.

The Importance of Mental Health Data

In order to fully grasp the state of mental health in America, a robust data set is required. We need a full understanding because, frankly, the statistics are somewhat unnerving.

1 in 5 Americans struggle with mental health issues on a daily basis
Half of U.S. adults who have a mental illness (nearly 27 million people) are battling mental illness without treatment.
10.6% of American youth suffer from major depression. These youth are among the most vulnerable of our population and are the future of society.

These statistics indicate that mental illness is a common problem in the United States. Most everyone in the country is impacted by it at some point in their life, if not through personally struggling with these issues themselves, then someone in their close orbit.

Any affliction that impacts 50 million Americans and growing is one that deserves a critical eye so that it can be addressed at its root. This is particularly true of mental health as the ripple effects can be significant.

How does Mental Illness Impact the Individual?

Mental illness, particularly conditions that go untreated, often has a profound impact on individuals beyond their emotional or immediate mental faculties. Overall health and the ability to thrive in employment and education can suffer.

Those suffering from depression are 40% more likely to develop heart disease, one of the leading causes of death in the United States.
Individuals with mental illness are far more likely to continue smoking. This in turn leads to a host of other physical health issues.
Over a third of those diagnosed with a mental illness experience substance abuse which leads to further dramatic physical consequences.
Individuals who are suffering from mental illness are far more likely to experience sleep-related problems such as sleep apnea and insomnia.
There is a strong link between those suffering from mental illness and chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and arthritis.

Suffice to say, the myriad complications that can come about in the absence of mental health are staggering. These complications make solving the root problem that much more difficult. While all of these effects on the individual are dramatic, perhaps the most significant impact is the emergence of suicidal thoughts.

Mental Health and Suicide

Suicide is a tragic event that is unfortunately has become more common over the past decades. Mental illness and symptoms of mental illness are almost always a part of the equation when assessing death by suicide. The correlation between mental health and suicide is strong with nearly half of Americans who die from suicide each year having been diagnosed with a mental illness.

90% of people who die of suicide showed at least one sign of a mental illness before death according to interviews with family, friends, and co-workers.
Since 1999, the suicide rate among Americans has increased by 35%.
In 2019, 48,000 Americans died by suicide
Warning signs that a loved one may be considering suicide include:
- Expressing the wish to no longer life
- Giving away possessions
- Suddenly increased alcohol or drug use
- Aggressive behavior
- Dramatic mood swings
- Impulsive or reckless behavior
Risk factors for suicide include:
- A history of suicide in the family
- Possession of or access to a firearm
- Drug and/or alcohol abuse
- Serious chronic illnesses
- Experiencing stress or anxiety over a long period of time
- Recent tragedy or loss
- Gender – men are 4 times more likely to commit suicide than women

Mental Health and Substance Abuse

The link between mental illness and substance abuse is strong. The data backing this correlation is difficult to ignore and it is a problem that has become increasingly prevalent in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Substance abuse issues are common amongst the following types of mental health problems:

Anxiety
Depression
Schizophrenia
Personality disorders

What is particularly challenging about substances and their relationship to mental health is that is each one can bring out the other. For instance, it is thought that substances can help bring about mental health crises and at the same time, certain mental illnesses can foster substance abuse:

50% of people who suffer a mental illness in their lifetime will also suffer from a substance abuse issue
60% of youth in community-based substance programs meet the standards for another mental illness beyond substance abuse.
17 million Americans experienced both a substance abuse disorder and a diagnosable mental illness in 2020.

Mental Health and The Community – The Ripple Effect

Beyond the individual and their immediate family, mental health issues have a ripple effect on the entire community and the nation as a whole. Here are some statistics that show just how impactful mental illness can be for society:

Mental health disorders drive Americans to emergency room visits more than any other cause outside of childbirth.
12% of all emergency room visits are a result of mental health disorders.
It is estimated that $193 billion in the United States economy is lost in earnings each year due to mental illness.
70% of American minors in the juvenile justice system are struggling with a mental health disorder.
Over a third of U.S. adults incarcerated have been diagnosed with a mental illness.
Depression is the overall leading cause of disability in the United States.
15% of United States veterans experienced mental illness in the year 2019 alone.

How Mental Health Impacts the Criminal Justice System

According to the American Psychological Association, one in 100 Americans is incarcerated. When we drill down further and start to understand the link between mental illness and the criminal justice system, alarming trends begin to emerge.

Prison populations have risen dramatically over the past decades and roughly half of that population experiences some type of mental health concern.

55% of the 50,000 veterans that are incarcerated report mental health problems.
In over 2 million instances each year, someone with a mental illness is booked into jail.
Since 2015, 1 in 4 individuals shot and killed by police suffered from a mental illness.
Suicide is the leading cause of death for individuals who are being held in local jails.
Youth held in juvenile detention are 10 times more likely to develop psychosis than their peers.
66% of women prisoners reported symptoms of mental illness.
4000 people with serious mental illness are held in solitary confinement in the United States.
3 in 5 people who are incarcerated and have a history of mental health issues do not receive the treatment they need while in prison

It is difficult to ignore these rather dramatic correlations between mental illness and incarceration. The American criminal justice system has a highly concentrated population of citizens who are suffering from serious mental health problems.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Mental Health

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic did not do any favors for the overall mental health of the American population. IN June of 2020, the Centers for Disease Control conducted a survey in which they found:

31% of American adults reported at least one symptom of anxiety or depression
13% of adults reported starting or increasing substance abuse
11% of adults had thoughts about suicide.
Communities of color were disproportionally affected by the pandemic with 48% of Black American adults and 46% of Hispanic American adults reporting symptoms of anxiety or depression versus just 41% of non-Hispanic White American adults.
42% of workers whose jobs were deemed “essential” during the pandemic reported symptoms of anxiety and depression versus 30% of other Americans.
22% of essential workers entertained suicidal thoughts versus 8% of the general American population during the pandemic.

All of these figures indicate a significant increase over already concerning stats in pre-pandemic years. It is likely that society has not yet seen the full realization and impact that the worldwide pandemic will have had on the population, particularly those in low-income and marginalized communities.

The Impact of Mental Health Issues on America’s Youngest

70% of American youth in the juvenile justice system have been diagnosed with a mental illness.
Drug use is most likely to start in adolescence, making the role it plays in youth mental health that much more precarious.
High school youth who suffer from major depressive episodes are twice as likely to drop out than their peers
Youth experiencing mental health issues are 3 times more likely to repeat a grade.

Access to Care for Mental Health Treatment

Access to health care for mental health counseling is tenuous at best in the United States. Nearly half of all Americans struggling with their mental health are untreated, due either to a lack of health care or a lack of knowledge about how to best address their struggles.

Nearly half of all Americans who reported mental health problems go untreated. Sadly, this does not tell the full tale of how insurance coverage is lacking for mental health treatment in the United States:

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, 4.9 million Americans were unable to get access to the mental health services they needed.
During that same time frame, due to complications with seeing health specialists in person due to the pandemic, 17.7 million people had their mental health consultations delayed or canceled and 7.3 million had delayed prescriptions.
Many mental health consultations were moved to virtual or online appointments. 26.3 millions of Americans received mental health care via virtual visits.

These statistics indicate that the pandemic complicated and significantly slowed the insurance coverage process impacting millions of Americans seeking treatment.

Access to quality mental health care is particularly important for those who are being released from prison. Studies show that those who receive care are far less likely to end up back in the criminal justice system. For these individuals, access to care means spending their life outside of prison.

Final Thought

In the United States, a significant portion of the population is struggling with their mental health on a daily basis. Many of these Americans are suffering from a lack of treatment and therefore see the full impact of their illness affecting themselves, their families, and their community.

Current trends are showing particularly troubling signs in minority, low-income, and youth populations. These demographics are more likely to experience symptoms of mental illness, report symptoms of suicide, are more likely to be incarcerated, and are at a higher risk for substance abuse.