Mental Health Fact Sheet

From children to grandparents, one in five Americans experiences a serious emotional disturbance or mental illness each year. In fact, mental illness is more prevalent than cancer, lung disease and heart disease combined – leading the U.S. Surgeon General to declare mental illness one of our nation’s leading public health issues.

Tens of thousands of depressed people attempt suicide each year; about one-fourth of them succeed. In fact, more people die of suicide than homicide. And yet there is a prevalent notion that people with mental illness cannot function. The reality is that many people with mental illness are in the workforce. One might be your co-worker, your boss or perhaps you.

Mental illness refers collectively to all diagnosable mental disorders, characterized by abnormalities in cognition, emotion or the highest integrative aspects of behavior, such as social interactions or planning of future activities.

That the mind has a biology that can fall victim to stress and disease is hard to accept. Despite our sophistication in medical science, when depression strikes – to take a common example – we judge the disability as a mental weakness, not illness. Recent surveys indicate that 50% of Americans still believe that depression is a form of laziness.

Mental illnesses – schizophrenia, mood disorders, acute anxiety disorders, alcohol and substance abuse – are more widespread than people think. In any given year, more than 28% of Americans will experience one of these devastating illnesses. Most severe mental illnesses first appear during early adulthood. However, no age group is immune: seven million children and adolescents experience the symptoms of a mental disorder and 15 – 25% of people over age 65 suffer from significant symptoms of mental illnesses.

When help is not at hand, more than 30,000 people commit suicide each year, most suffering from a mental or addicting disorder. The loss of productivity due to untreated mental illnesses costs American society an estimated $150 billion a year.

Why do most people not receive treatment for their mental illness? The U.S. Surgeon General’s report on mental health concluded that stigma and difficulty paying for care are keeping millions of Americans from the effective treatments for mental illnesses.

Mental illnesses are diseases of the brain and like most other physical diseases can be readily diagnosed and effectively treated.

Depression and anxiety disorders – The two most common mental illnesses – each affect 19 million Americans every year.

Depression is predicted to be the 2nd greatest cause of premature death and disability worldwide by 2020. Depression accounts for more disability than any disorder except heart disease.
1% of the population (more than 2.5 million Americans) has schizophrenia.

50 – 70% of youth in juvenile justice facilities have a diagnosable mental disorder. This percentage is found to be as high as 90% when substance abuse is included.

The suicide rate in young people has increased dramatically. In 1996, the most recent year for which statistics are available, suicide was the third leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year-olds.

Up to half of all visits to primary care physicians are due to conditions caused or exacerbated by mental or emotional problems.

Late life depression affects around 6 million adults, but only 10% ever receive treatment.