Report: Mental illness struck 1 in 5 US adults in 2010
January 20, 2012 By Jeannine Stein in Psychology & Psychiatry
One in five adults in the U.S. had a mental illness in 2010, with people ages 18 to 25 having the highest rates, according to a national survey.
The report from the Mental Health Services Administration's National Survey on Drug Use and Health, released Thursday, includes information from 68,487 completed surveys about mental illness (as defined by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV) and substance abuse among adults and children. Rates have remained fairly stable since 2009, with only a slight uptick in overall numbers.
Among the highlights, people in the 50-plus age bracket had the lowest incidence of any mental illness (14.3 percent), while those ages 18 to 25 had the highest, at 29.9 percent. Women had higher rates than men: 23 percent versus 16.8 percent
When broken down by racial and ethnic groups, the highest rates of mental illness were seen among people who reported two or more races (25.4 percent), followed by whites (20.6 percent), blacks (19.7 percent), Native Americans or Alaska natives (18.7 percent), Hispanics (18.3 percent) and Asians (15.8 percent).
About 5 percent of adults in the U.S. had a serious mental illness in 2010, a slightly higher number compared with 2009 (4.8 percent). That 18- to 25-year-old age group again had the highest incidence at 7.7 percent, and those 50 and older had the lowest at 3.2 percent. Women again outpaced men, 6.5 percent to 3.4 percent. Those with a serious mental illness have trouble functioning, which affects their key life activities.
When broken down by racial and ethnic groups, the highest rates of serious mental illness occurred among adults who reported two or more races (9.3 percent), followed by Native Americans or Alaska natives (8.5 percent), whites (5.2 percent), Hispanics (4.6 percent), blacks (4.4 percent), Asians (2.6 percent) and native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders (1.6 percent).
"Mental illness is not an isolated public health problem," Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services administrator Pamela Hyde said in a news release. "Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity often co-exist with mental illness and treatment of the mental illness can reduce the effects of these disorders."
The report also found that 39 percent of people who had any mental illness obtained mental health services, and among those with a serious mental illness, 60.8 percent received help.
Mental illness can lead to thoughts of suicide, and in 2010 8.7 million people thought seriously about taking their own lives. In that group, 2.5 million people made plans to kill themselves, and 1.1 million attempted suicide.
Substance abuse sometimes goes hand in hand with mental illness; those who had any mental illness or a serious mental illness had much higher substance abuse or dependence rates (20 percent) compared with those who didn't have a mental illness (6.1 percent).
Depression was an issue among children ages 12 to 17. Almost 2 million people in that age bracket had a major depressive episode in 2010 that lasted at least two weeks. Those who had such an episode had more than twice the rate of using illicit drugs than their peers who didn't have a period of severe depression.
"Today's report ... provides further evidence that we need to continue efforts to monitor levels of mental illness in the United States in order to effectively prevent this important public health problem and its negative impact on total health," Ileana Arias of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in the release.
(c)2012 the Los Angeles Times
Distributed by MCT Information Services
-
High rates of substance abuse exist among veterans with mental illness
Apr 19, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Mental illness protects some inmates from returning to jail
Jan 17, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
One in five Americans had mental illness last year: survey
Nov 19, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
More than half of Americans drink alcohol: report
Aug 01, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Knowledge about mental illness increases likelihood of seeking help
Jun 01, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Why is zone 1 in liver more prone to ischemic injury?
May 23, 2013
-
How can there be villous adenoma in colon, if there are no villi there
May 22, 2013
-
How can there be a term called "intestinal metaplasia" of stomach
May 21, 2013
-
Pressure-volume curve: Elastic Recoil Pressure don't make sense
May 18, 2013
-
If you became brain-dead, would you want them to pull the plug?
May 17, 2013
-
MRI bill question
May 15, 2013
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
Storm chasers: born to be wild?
(HealthDay)—We've all seen them: the surfers who race to the beach when a hurricane hits, the guy who decides to ride out the storm in his overmatched boat, the tornado chasers who fearlessly steer their ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
2 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Hormone levels may provide key to understanding psychological disorders in women
Women at a particular stage in their monthly menstrual cycle may be more vulnerable to some of the psychological side-effects associated with stressful experiences, according to a study from UCL.
Psychology & Psychiatry
3 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
|
Are there atheists in foxholes? Study says they're the minority
Ernie Pyle – an iconic war correspondent in World War II – reportedly said "There are no atheists in foxholes." A new joint study between two brothers at Cornell and Virginia Wesleyan found that only ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
5 hours ago |
2.5 / 5 (4) |
1
Breathing exercises help veterans find peace after war, scholar says
(Medical Xpress)—Research by Stanford scholar Emma Seppala at the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education found that post-traumatic stress disorder decreased in veterans who participated ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
6 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Depression raises diabetics' risk of severe low blood sugar episodes
(Medical Xpress)—Patients with diabetes who are depressed are much more likely to develop episodes of dangerously low blood sugars, or hypoglycemia, than are those who are not depressed, a new study has ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
7 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
|
Researchers identify first drug targets in childhood genetic tumor disorder
Two mutations central to the development of infantile myofibromatosis (IM)—a disorder characterized by multiple tumors involving the skin, bone, and soft tissue—may provide new therapeutic targets, according to researchers ...
FDA warns of infections tied to Tennessee pharmacy
(AP)—Government health officials are investigating several health problems reported with potentially contaminated medications made by a Tennessee specialty pharmacy.
Engineered cytomegalovirus protects monkeys from HIV equivalent
(Medical Xpress)—A new study by researchers in the US has shown that an ancient virus can be modified to help in the fight against the simian immunodeficiency virus SIV, which is the equivalent in monkeys ...
Pollen count apps for smartphones are nothing to sneeze at
Kate O'Reilly's spring allergy survival kit includes the usual stuff - nasal sprays, allergy pills and a box of tissues. This season, she's added a new weapon to her line of defense: an app on her smartphone.
Going live: Immune cell activation in multiple sclerosis
Biological processes are generally based on events at the molecular and cellular level. To understand what happens in the course of infections, diseases or normal bodily functions, scientists would need to ...
Comorbidities common with alopecia areata
(HealthDay)—Comorbid conditions often accompany alopecia areata, according to a study published online May 22 in JAMA Dermatology.