Millions of people living in the United States receive some form of mental diagnosis each year. It is essential to emphasize how widespread mental illness is among the population. The more an average person understand how common mental disorders are, the better chance we have of getting a better understanding of their impacts.
Fact-based numbers on mental illness help raise awareness and help burst through the stigmas that still surround the issue. Having mental illness statistics available allows people to become informed advocates for better care for mental health.
The Widespread Impact of Mental Illness
Mental illness covers a variety of mental health disorders. The list includes depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, and addiction. It is expected that 46 percent of adults will experience some form of mental disorder during their lives. Five percent of adults experience mental illness during a single year.
Fifty percent of people in the U.S. with a mental disorder begin exhibiting symptoms by the time they are 14, and 75 percent start showing signs by the age of 24. Unfortunately, only 41 percent of individuals with a mental disorder receive professional help.
More recently, 19.1 percent of adults experienced mental illness in 2018. That number represents 47.6 million people. Eleven million people, or 4.6 percent of adults, were diagnosed with a severe mental disorder.
One area of improvement seen in mental illness statistics in 2018 was a rise in the number of people receiving treatment. Sixty-four percent of adults received some form of therapy for their problems, an indication that efforts to combat stigmas around mental illness treatment are working.
How Mental Illness Affects Everyone
Individuals diagnosed with mental illness run a 40 percent higher risk of developing some form of cardiovascular or metabolic disease. Those with severe types of mental disorders are more than twice as likely to experience some physical fallout.
Over 19 percent of adults in the U.S. diagnosed with mental illness in 2018 also had some form of substance abuse disorder. Adults with mental illness had a higher rate of unemployment than those who had no issues. Among adolescents, students with depression are twice as likely to drop out of high school.
The families of those who have a mental illness suffered the most fallout. There were 8.4 million people providing care to an adult experiencing emotional and psychological problems. They offered an average of 32 hours of unpaid care each week.
The mental illness statistics do not stop there. Within communities, emergency departments end up treating one out of every eight clients for some form of mental illness or substance abuse disorder. Mood disorder treatment was the most common reason most people under age 45 sought hospitalization. There are nearly 200 billion dollars lost each year from the economy because of severe mental illness.
Thirty-seven percent of adults incarcerated in state and federal prisons have some form of mental illness. That carries over to the juvenile justice system, with 70.4 percent of youth diagnosed with some mental disorder.
Receive Personalized Care and Treatment
The staff at Serenity Life Recovery looks beyond mental illness statistics to the person who is seeking treatment. We provide dual diagnosis services to those who have a mental disorder and an issue with substance abuse.
Our clients have the option of inpatient or outpatient treatment. Those looking for more intense services can opt for our inpatient extended-stay programs that last 30, 60, or 90 days. Serenity Light Recovery makes a wide range of programs available. We tailor everything to the individual needs of each client. Our approach treats the mind, body, and spirit for a whole-body healing experience.
Help From Serenity Light Recovery
Find out more about our substance abuse and mental illness programs in Texas by calling (281) 431-6700 or contacting us here. We provide the tools and skills that help you move forward healthily.
As our CEO, Heather’s main calling is to stay true to the vision of the organization, which is saving lives and striving to redefine statistics by raising the standard of care with evolving treatment methods. Heather studied psychology at LSU and both the main and Clear Lake campuses of the University of Houston, and she is a certified IASIS provider and CPI instructor. She’s been helping people in recovery since 2011. Heather’s motto to live by is “I am not what I’ve done; I am what I’ve overcome.”
