Mental Health Information and Statistics

• Approximately 1 in 4 Americans will suffer a serious mental disorder in their lifetime.
  Mental disorders do not discriminate -- they strike all races, incomes and social strata.

Prevalence of Mental Disorders in the U.S.

Almost 16% of the U.S. population suffers from a major mental illness or substance abuse.

• Severe illnesses are more common than cancer, diabetes or heart disease
• 20% of families are affected by severe mental illness in their lifetime
• 21% of hospital beds are filled by patients with mental illness, the leading reason for hospital admissions

Source: National Institute of Mental Health

Other Mental Health Statistics

• Preliminary studies indicate that 1 in 5 children/adolescents may have a diagnosable mental disorder.

• An estimated 7.7 to 12.8 million children suffer from mental disorders (Center for Mental Health Services, 1993). These youth are estimated to have severe emotional or behavioral problems that significantly interfere with their daily functioning.

• Nearly one-third of the nation's estimated 600,000 homeless individuals are believed to be adults with severe mental illnesses (CMHS, 1992).

• More than 1 in 14 jail inmates has a mental illness.

• Twenty-nine percent of the nation's jails routinely hold people with a mental illness without any criminal charges (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and Public Citizens' Health Research Group).

• More than 51 million Americans have a mental disorder in a single year (National Institute of Mental Health and CMHS, 1994).

• During the course of any given year, while more than 40 million adult Americans are affected by one or more mental disorders, 5.5 million Americans are disabled by severe mental illnesses (NIMH, 1990).

• An estimated 19.9 million Americans, 8.8 percent of the population, experience phobias. About 9.1 million, 5.1 percent of the population, live with major depression. Some 3.9 million have obsessive compulsive disorder; 2 million have schizophrenia; 2.4 million have panic disorder; 2 million experience bipolar disorders (NIMH, 1990).

• At least two-thirds of elderly nursing home residents have a diagnosis of a mental disorder such as major depression (NIMH, 1990).

• Up to 25 percent of the population with AIDS will develop AIDS- related cognitive dysfunction. Two-thirds of all people with AIDS will develop neuropsychiatric problems (Mental Health Liaison Group, 1993).

• Mental disorders can be treated effectively if access to healthcare coverage and services is available for you and your family.

• Depression

  • Can appear at any age and is one of the most common and treatable illnesses.

  • One in four women and one in 10 men can expect to develop depression during their lifetime.

  • Eighty to 90 percent of those who suffer from depression can be effectively treated and nearly all people who receive treatment derive some benefit.

• Bipolar Disorder (manic-depressive illness)

  • Usually strikes before the age of 35 and will affect nearly 1 in 100 people.

  • Among the most treatable of the psychiatric illnesses and with the correct medication the number and intensity of episodes can be decreased for 70 percent of the people in treatment.

• Panic Disorder (anxiety disorder class)

  • Will affect 1.3 percent of American adults each year.

  • Treatment consists of different medications and therapies with a 75 percent to 90 percent effectiveness.

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

  • Will affect 2.1 percent of Americans and is one of the most complex of all mental disorders.

  • Although 75 percent of patients respond initially to treatment, most have a return of symptoms. However, nearly 80 percent of patients on a drug known as clomipramine showed some positive response and 60 percent experienced moderate response.

  • Combined behavioral and medical treatment offers new hope.

• Lack of coverage puts you and your family at financial risk.

• Most Americans do not have adequate coverage in the event of a mental health problem.

• Annual out-of-pocket expenses for a serious mental disorder can cost tens of thousands of dollars under most current health care plans.

• Direct costs--expenditures for professional healthcare for persons suffering form mental disorders, including care in mental specialty institutions, hospitals and nursing homes, physician and other professional services and prescription drugs--accounted for $67 billion, or 11.4 percent of all personal health care expenditures in 1990 (Rice and Miller, 1993).

• Most healthcare plans cover mental disorders with significantly more restrictions on copayments and the type and amount of services covered.

• Physical disorder coverage in the same healthcare plans typically covers from 70 percent to as high as 100 percent of costs, with no arbitrary limits to care.

• Current Medicare and Medicaid coverage also is discriminatory in the same way.

• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 79 percent of employees in large and medium sized firms offering mental health benefits had more restrictive hospital coverage for mental illnesses than for other illnesses. Half of those employees had hospitalization limited to 30 to 60 days per year for mental illnesses, compared with 120 days or unlimited days for other medical illnesses.

• Ninety-five percent of health insurance plans surveyed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, limited out-patient coverage; 34 percent allowed fewer out-patient visits per year for mental health disorders than for other illnesses; 66 percent imposed special maximum dollar limits on out-patient visits for mental health services.

• Many of those people whose need for care exceeds such limited insurance benefits frequently are transferred to state-run facilities.

• Less than one-third of the children under 18 with a serious emotional disturbance receive mental health services. Often, the services they do receive are inappropriate (Children's Defense Fund, CMHS--Mental Health, U.S., 1994).

• The mental health system relies on a high proportion for funds from public sources rather than private insurance and out-of-pocket payments. In 1990, 28 percent of funds for mental health care came from state and local governments. For physical healthcare, the comparable figure was 14 percent. Medicare, Medicaid, Veteran's Affairs and other Federal programs accounted for an additional 26 percent (National Mental Health Council).

• Disparity (difference insurance companies have between physical coverage and mental health coverage) is a serious risk to those suffering mental illness.

• Out of 50 states, only 2 - Maryland and Minnesota, have passed parity legislation stating that private insurance companies cannot discriminate on healthcare benefits.

Social Impact of Mental Disorders

• A majority of the 29,000 Americans who commit suicide each year are believed to have a mental disorder. Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death in the U.S. and the third leading cause of death among people aged 15-24 (NIMH, 1994).
• Mental illnesses impose a multibillion dollar burden on the economy each year. Total economic costs amounted to $147.8 billion in 1990. More than 31 percent of those costs -- $46.6 billion - are for anxiety disorders (the Economic Burden of Affective Disorders, Dorothy P. Rice, Ph.D., and Leonard S. Miller, Ph.D., 1993).
• Three independent studies between 1971 and 1985 found that mental health costs remained relatively constant during the past 20 years, ranging from 9 to 11 percent of the direct treatment costs for healthcare (Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, 1993).
• Direct treatment and support costs comprise 45.3 percent of the total economic costs of mental disorders. The value of reduced or lost productivity comprise 42.7 percent of the total economic costs of mental disorders. Mortality costs compromise 8 percent and other related costs, including expenditures on criminal justice, the value of lost time due to incarceration and an imputed value for caregiver services, comprise 4 percent (Rice and Miller, 1993).
• Morbidity costs -- the value of goods and services not produced because of health problems -- amounted to $63.1 billion for all mental disorders in 1990. Morbidity costs for anxiety disorders accounted for $34.2 Billion; for schizophrenia, $10.7 billion. The morbidity costs for anxiety disorders reflect their prevalence in the population and the high rate of lost productivity (Rice and Miller, 1993).
• Mortality costs -- the current value of lifetime earnings lost by all who died in 1990 because of mental disorders -- amounted to $11.8 billion in 1990 (Rice and Miller, 1993).
• Other related costs - the costs indirectly related to the treatment and lost productivity of people with mental disorders -- amounted to $6 billion in 1990 (Rice and Miller, 1993).
  
  Source: National Mental Health Association

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