Health Market Science

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Survey on Drug Use and Health found 45.9 million American adults, or 20 percent of the population over the age of 18, experienced mental illness in 2010. For adults between 18 and 25, the rate was twice as high as those 50 or older, at 29.9 percent and 14.3 percent respectively. Adult women were more likely than men to experience mental illness as well, at 23 percent compared to 16.8 percent.

A condition is considered a mental illness if an adult has a diagnosable mental, behavioral or emotional disorder based on criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

The national survey also found 11.4 million adults, or 5 percent of the adult population, suffered from serious mental illness in 2010. A mental illness is considered serious if it causes a serious functional impairment to the patient and significantly interferes with or limit the ability to complete one or more major daily life activities.

As the rate of mental illness has continued to grow at an alarming rate, SAMHSA is working on a strategic substance abuse and mental illness prevention and recovery effort to assist states, territories, tribal governments and local communities in developing practices to better diagnose and treat these conditions. SAMHSA aims to improve the delivery of health education-related to mental illness prevention, as well as establish effective policies, programs and infrastructure to address the needs of patients in these regions.

SAMHSA is working with healthcare providers to strengthen capacity to serve the growing population of mentally ill patients.  According to SAMHSA Administrator Pamela Hyde, people can recover from mental illnesses if they receive adequate treatment. Mental illness treatments should become a priority as they are often diagnosed in conjunction with other diseases and conditions.

"Cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity often co-exist with mental illness and treatment of the mental illness can reduce the effects of these disorders," Hyde said. "People, families and communities will benefit from increased access to mental health services."

Mental illnesses have had a significant impact on the U.S. economy, costing about $300 billion in 2002. The World Health Organization reported mental illness incidence is the highest in developed countries compared to any other illness including cancer and heart disease due to a lack of treatment infrastructure and policies. The report showed in the United States 39.2 percent of mental illness patients received mental health services over the past year, and 60.8 percent of patients with serious mental illness were treated, the report states.

Daniel Carlat, a psychiatrist and author, told the Washington Post the mental health profession is relying too much on prescription drugs to treat certain conditions that could be managed with other forms of therapy.

"There's a stigma about 'mental illness' that as soon as you hear the term people assume that it's something quite severe," Carlat said. "The nuance of this type of data tend to be lost on people."