Mental health and substance abuse disorders are the leading cause of disease burden — both financially and in terms of utilization — in the U.S., according to Kaiser Family Foundation. And compared with similarly wealthy countries, the U.S. has the highest mortality rate for these disorders.
Here are seven statistics on the current costs and outcomes related to mental health and substance abuse disorders, according to the Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker, an online information hub dedicated to monitoring and assessing the performance of the U.S. health system.
1. Eighteen percent of adults in the U.S. have a mental, behavioral or emotional disorder. The highest incidence of such disorders is among native Hawaiians/other Pacific Islanders, at 22.3 percent. The group with the next highest incidence is American Indian/Native Alaskans (21.2 percent), followed by whites (19.2 percent) and blacks (16.3 percent).
2. The age group with the highest incidence of mental, behavioral or emotional disorders is 26 to 49 years (20.4 percent), followed by 18 to 25 years (20.1 percent) and 50 years and older (15.4 percent).
3. The most common mental health disorders among adults in the U.S. are phobias and major depression. Specific phobias (such as those related to heights, spiders or flying) affect 8.7 percent of adults, social phobia affect 6.8 percent of adults and major depression affect 6.6 percent.
4. Major depression occurs the most among whites (7.1 percent of adults), followed by native Hawaiians/other Pacific Islanders (6.7 percent) and American Indian/Native Alaskans (6 percent). Females experience major depression far more than men, at 8.2 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively.
5. Serious mental illness is more prevalent among adults who are uninsured and those who are poor. About 5.2 percent of adults who are uninsured have a serious mental illness compared with 3.9 percent of adults with insurance. Seven percent of adults with incomes under 100 percent of the federal poverty level have a serious mental illness, compared with 3.6 percent of those with incomes above that threshold.
6. Alcohol dependence or abuse is the most commonly reported substance abuse disorder. In 2014, 17 million people ages 12 and up reported having an alcohol use disorder, 7.1 million reported having an illicit drug use disorder, 4.2 million reported a marijuana use disorder and 1.9 million reported having a pain reliever disorder.
7. The U.S. suicide rate increased between 2006 and 2014. According to CDC data, the national suicide rate reached 13 per 100,000 people in 2014, the highest since 1986. The CDC found that after steadily declining between 1986 and 1999, the national suicide rate spiked by 24 percent between 1999 and 2014, with a 2 percent increase per year beginning in 2006.
The Kaiser Health System Tracker's report used information from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which gathered substantive estimates of the prevalence of mental health disorders and drug use among adults and children in the U.S. through its annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2008 and 2014.