'THE STATE OF MENTAL HEALTH IN AMERICA' STUDY REVEALS SURPRISING STATS: WHAT ILLINOIS IS IMPLEMENTING by Suzanne Hanney charts taken from "2022 State of Mental Health in America"
Mental illness goes untreated in over half of U.S. adults – 27 million – and the number of people seriously thinking of suicide rose by 664,000 people over last year. These were just two findings of the 2022 report, “The State of Mental Health in America.” Released October 24 by the nonprofit Mental Health America (MHA), the annual study uses data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Department of Education (DoE). Other key findings include: • 19.86% of adults experienced a mental illness, equivalent to nearly 50 million Americans in 2019, just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. • 4.58% of U.S. adults had serious thoughts of suicide, an increase of 664,000 over last year. The national rate of suicidal ideation among adults has risen every year since 2011-12. • 10.6% of U.S. youth (over 2.5 million) have severe depression. The rate was highest among youth who identified as more than one race (14.5% or 1 in 7). • 11% of Americans with mental illness are uninsured. • 7.74% of U.S. adults and 4.08% of U.S. youth had a substance use disorder in the past year. MHA says the statistics support its spotlight on two priorities for 202122: 1) implementation of 988 as the national three-digit suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline, and 2) increased mental health education and supports in schools, especially for youth of color. The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act was passed by Congress in September 2020, signed by President Biden on Oct. 17, 2020, and slated to take effect in one year. There are 129 suicides each day in the United States, the legislation noted, and prevention meant the cumbersome, 10-digit phone number had to go.
OVERALL RANKINGS
An overall ranking 1-13 indicates lower prevalence of mental illness and higher rates of access to care. An overall ranking 39-51 indicates higher prevalence of mental illness and lower rates of access to care. The combined scores of all 15 measures make up the overall ranking. The overall ranking includes both adult and youth measures as well as prevalence and access to care measures. The chart is a visual representation of the sum of the scores for each state. It provides an opportunity to see the difference between ranked states. For example, Massachusetts (ranked one) has a score that is higher than Illinois (ranked 12). Virginia (ranked 20) has a score that is closest to the average.
