Mental Illness Prevalence and Impact
Mental health is defined as “our cognitive,
behavioral, and emotional wellbeing - it is all about how we think, feel, and
behave. Mental health can affect daily
life, relationships, and even physical health. Mental health also includes a
person's ability to enjoy life - to attain a balance between life activities
and efforts to achieve psychological resilience” (Newman, August 24,
2017). Mental illness diagnoses can
range from everyday anxiety and depression to personality disorders such as
Schizophrenia or Borderline Personal Disorder.
No one is immune to mental illness.
Causes can be genetic, environmental, or both. Mental illness is documented to impact
roughly 50% of the population in the United States and around the world at some
point during a life span, but that number is extremely conservative. Mental
illness has a history of being highly stigmatized and is met with significant
controversy. Traditionally, mental
health and medical health are viewed and treated independently of one
another. Privacy laws surrounding mental
healthcare prevent mental health records from being included in the electronic
health record (EHR). Only in recent
years, have we begun to understand the true impact mental health has on
physical health. It is now recognized
that medical health is highly influenced by mental health, yet the two continue
to be completely disassociated. Major
medical benefits typically only cover 50% of mental healthcare costs if any,
and there is a shortage of quality mental health practitioners, all contributing
to limited access to care. Furthermore,
limited access to mental healthcare, privacy laws, government agencies with
competing agendas, and the significant discrimination associated with mental illness
have led to under-diagnosis and under-treatment of mental illnesses, resulting
in missed opportunities for early intervention and research. The hard truth is that mental illness
occurrences are significantly higher than what is reported by research studies. The Surgeon General expresses that very few
people in a population are untouched by mental illness either directly or
indirectly in their lifetime. More
importantly, mental illness is often the underlying cause of many other
healthcare-related events.
Adult population, greater than 18 years old.
- One in every four persons are affected by mental illness either
directly or indirectly.
- One in every five persons suffer from a diagnosable mental
illness disorder each year.
- Four of the 10 leading causes of disability are mental illnesses
that include major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive
disorder occurring in approximately 5% of the population.
- Roughly, 3% of the population suffer from more than one mental
illness.
- 20% of all doctor’s appointments are related to severe anxiety
disorders such as panic attacks.
- Eight million people are diagnosed or treated for depression each
year.
- An estimated two million people are diagnosed with schizophrenia
disorders, and 300,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.
Children and Adolescents, under the age of 18.
- Roughly 12 million children have mental disorders.
- Mental illness impacts one in every 5 young people at any time.
- A conservative estimate of 1 in every 33 children may suffer from
depression; in adolescents, that number may be as high as 1 in 8.
- Schizophrenia occurs in approximately 3 of every 1,000
adolescents.
- Between 118,700 and 186,600 youths in the juvenile justice system
have at least one mental illness.
- 60% of every 100,000 teenagers in juvenile detention have one or more
mental illnesses.
- It is estimated that two-thirds of young people with mental
health problems are not receiving the appropriate care needed.
- Less than one-third of the children with serious mental health
problems receive any mental health services.
- Suicide is the third
leading cause of death for 15- to 24-years old.
- Suicide is the sixth leading cause of death for 5- to 15-years
old.
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