Mental Health Statistics
General Mental Health Statistics-
An estimated 26% of Americans ages 18 and older — about 1 in 4 adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.
- Many people suffer from more than one mental disorder at a given time. In particular, depressive illnesses tend to co-occur with substance abuse and anxiety disorders.
Approximately 9.5% of American adults ages 18 and over, will suffer from a depressive illness (major depression, bipolar disorder, or dysthymia) each year.
Most people who commit suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder — most commonly a depressive disorder or a substance abuse disorder.
Four times as many men than women commit suicide. However, women attempt suicide more often than men.
The highest suicide rates in the U.S. are found in Caucasian men over age 85. However, suicide is also one of the leading causes of death in adolescents and adults ages 15 to 24.
If you or a loved one is suicidal, please call the national hotline number now: 800-273-8255 (national suicide prevention lifeline)
Approximately about 18% of people ages 18- 54 in a given year have an anxiety disorder in a given year. Anxiety disorders include panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and phobias (social phobia, agoraphobia, and specific phobia).
It’s also important to know specific data when it comes to your state and where you rank on the mental health map. You’ll most likely be surprised at where you land on the ranking charts. Please click on one of the links below. Maybe it will inspire you to lead the charge on helping destigmatize mental health issues or speak with your local city council or non-profits to see how you can help.
State Map with Rankings of Mental Health (Click below)
Access To Mental Health Care By State
Mental Health Issue – Anxiety-
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
GAD affects 6.8 million adults or 3.1% of the U.S. population, yet only 43.2% are receiving treatment.
Women are twice as likely to be affected as men. GAD often co-occurs with major depression.
Panic Disorder (PD)
PD affects 6 million adults or 2.7% of the U.S. population.
Women are twice as likely to be affected as men.
SAD affects 15 million adults or 6.8% of the U.S. population.
SAD is equally common among men and women and typically begins around age 13. According to a 2007 ADAA survey, 36% of people with social anxiety disorder report experiencing symptoms for 10 or more years before seeking help. (source)
Mental Health Issue – OCD
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
-OCD affects 2.2 million adults or 1.0% of the U.S. population.
-OCD is equally common among men and women.
-The average age of onset is 19, with 25 percent of cases occurring by age 14. One-third of affected adults first experienced symptoms in childhood. (source)
Mental Health Issue – PTSD
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
-PTSD affects 7.7 million adults or 3.5% of the U.S. population.
-Women are more likely to be affected than men.
-Rape is the most likely trigger of PTSD: 65% of men and 45.9% of women who are raped will develop the disorder.
-Childhood sexual abuse is a strong predictor of the lifetime likelihood of developing PTSD. (source)
Statistics Related to Mental Health Disorders-
The following are the latest statistics available from the National Institute of Mental Health Disorders, part of the National Institutes of Health:
-Mental health disorders account for several of the top causes of disability in established market economies, such as the U.S., worldwide, and include: major depression (also called clinical depression), manic depression (also called bipolar disorder), schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
-An estimated 26% of Americans ages 18 and older — about 1 in 4 adults — suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.
-Many people suffer from more than one mental disorder at a given time. In particular, depressive illnesses tend to co-occur with substance abuse and anxiety disorders.
-Approximately 9.5% of American adults ages 18 and over, will suffer from a depressive illness (major depression, bipolar disorder, or dysthymia) each year.
- -Women are nearly twice as likely to suffer from major depression than men. However, men and women are equally likely to develop bipolar disorder.
- -While major depression can develop at any age, the average age at onset is the mid-20s.
- -With bipolar disorder, which affects approximately 2.6% of Americans age 18 and older in a given year — the average age at onset for a first manic episode is during the early 20s.
-Most people who commit suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder — most commonly a depressive disorder or a substance abuse disorder.
- -Four times as many men than women commit suicide. However, women attempt suicide more often than men.
- -The highest suicide rates in the U.S. are found in Caucasian men over age 85. However, suicide is also one of the leading causes of death in adolescents and adults ages 15 to 24.
-Approximately 1% of Americans are affected by schizophrenia.
- -In most cases, schizophrenia first appears in men during their late teens or early 20s. In women, schizophrenia often first appears during their 20s or early 30s.
-Approximately about 18% of people ages 18- 54 in a given year, have an anxiety disorder in a given year. Anxiety disorders include: panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and phobias (social phobia, agoraphobia, and specific phobia).
- -Panic disorder typically develops in late adolescence or early adulthood.
- -The first symptoms of OCD often begin during childhood or adolescence.
- -GAD can begin at any time, though the risk is highest between childhood and middle age.
- -Individuals with OCD frequently can have problems with substance abuse or depressive or eating disorders.
- -Social phobia typically begins in childhood or adolescence.
- Hopkins Medicine – Source
Mental Health In Closing...
Hopefully, this will give you some sense as to how many people are affected by these different, extremely common, mental health issues. This is certainly not all of the mental health issues that face the country of America, nor the vax complexity of the world or every part of the mental health disorders. However, this is meant to give some awareness to a triggering aspects of life that people have going on that may show their mental health issue. This is meant to give some ‘quick statistics’ into the world of how many people deal with these certain mental health issues. Again, we are not mental health professionals and if you need mental health assistance, please click here, and scroll down to see three resources to help you find mental health professionals in your area. Otherwise, the author, Jeremy, suggests going to Google (since proximity (distance to place from you) is a huge ranking factor in SEO, Jeremy is also an SEO nerd, and typing in ‘mental health counselor’ or ‘therapist close to me’ ;mental health help by me’, to be able to find someone in your area that can see you. Last cast scenario is that you use an online resource and video chat with a professional. We know, we know. It’s not potentially as good as seeing a mental health professional in person, however, it’s better than not seeing anyone at all and may be just way you need to get your journey to self-discovery in uncovering your own mental health issue. That’s what we want from our readers. Do we show you books and products that people have found after hours of research and reading of reviews, YES.
However, we want to make sure that if you need help now, you also have an option to do that. Click here, to go to our homepage, scroll down and right before the two pictures in a row (on mobile, two pictures side by side on desktop), there are three links to help you find a therapist/counselor finders. We are not paid by any and found these, again, after researching. If you don’t want to do that, go to Google.com and search the terms previously mentioned (counselors near me, therapists in my area, mental health help by me, addiction center near me) to find someone in your area. We cannot assume that all of them will take your insurance, if you have some, and so for that, an online/video chat way might be better as there are places that do not take insurance and will at least see you once or twice. For some, that is not enough. For some, that will make a difference in just living, to living and thriving.
