Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maine rank highest; Nevada, Arizona, and Montana show greatest need for
improvement
ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 29,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mental Health America (MHA)
today released its annual State of Mental Health in America report,
which ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 15 mental health
access and prevalence measures. In this new report, using 2022
data, Massachusetts (1),
Connecticut (2), and Maine (3) scored highest against a
comprehensive range of well-being metrics. Meanwhile, Nevada (51), Arizona (50), and Montana (51) ranked the lowest.
The annual State of Mental Health in
America report ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia on mental health.
The report is based on federal data available for every state
from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of
Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education. To
develop these rankings, MHA evaluated states on criteria such as
the prevalence of mental health and substance use conditions,
suicidal ideation, access to care, provider availability, and other
metrics.
The U.S. is indeed in a mental health crisis, according to MHA's
analysis. Nearly 60 million adults (23.08%) experienced a mental
illness in the past year. Among other worrisome findings, nearly 13
million adults (5.04%) reported serious thoughts of suicide. The
number of individuals who died by suicide in 2022 was the highest
number ever recorded in the U.S., up after slight decreases in 2019
and 2020.
The nation's youth continue to present cause for concern. One in
five young people from ages 12-17 experienced at least one major
depressive episode in the past year, yet more than half of them
(56.1%) did not receive any mental health treatment. More than 3.4
million youth (13.16%) had serious thoughts of suicide.
More than 45 million adults (17.82%) and 2.3 million youth
(8.95%) are experiencing a substance use disorder.
"We are living in a time of polycrisis when evidence shows that
the need for mental health care is urgent. High numbers of adults
and youth alike are having serious thoughts of suicide, following a
year with a record high number for completed suicides, substance
use is on the rise, and other indicators of distress and disparity
continue to escalate. And yet obstacles such as high costs or a
shortage of mental health providers prevent so many Americans from
accessing the help they need," said Schroeder Stribling, president and CEO of MHA.
"Mental Health America continues to advocate for policy and
practice improvements that focus on upstream prevention and early
intervention so that all people—as they deserve—have an opportunity
to recover and flourish."
Barriers to obtaining mental health treatment persist
nationwide. Nearly 6 million adults (10.1%) with a mental illness
are uninsured, compared with 9.3% of adults without a mental
illness. One in four (24.58%) adults who experienced 14 or more
mentally unhealthy days each month were unable to see a doctor due
to costs—a 2% increase over previous data.
The shortage in mental health provider availability certainly
doesn't help. Data show there are 340 people for every one mental
health provider. More than 122 million people live in a mental
health workforce shortage area, with only 27% of the mental health
care needs in shortage areas being met.
"It is critical that we increase the affordability and
availability of mental health care so people experiencing
behavioral health conditions can access the care they want," said
Maddy Reinert, senior director of
population health at MHA. "But that won't fully address why people
are experiencing distress in the first place. To reduce the
negative impact of the mental health crisis, states must invest in
a public health approach focused on prevention of mental distress
and promotion of well-being."
MHA gathered the most recently available federal data in each
state, with the majority collected through 2022. States with
positive outcomes are ranked higher (closer to one) than states
with poorer outcomes (closer to 51).
The COVID-19 pandemic had a serious impact on federal agencies'
ability to collect national surveillance data in 2020. As a result,
the rankings in this year's State of Mental Health in America
report cannot be compared to previous years, though it does provide
an accurate snapshot of mental health at a point in time.
In releasing the report, MHA aims to: inform policy and program
planning, analysis, and evaluation; track changes in the prevalence
of mental health issues and access to mental health care; and
increase dialogue with and improve outcomes for individuals and
families with mental health needs.
Read more in the full State of Mental Health in America
report.
About Mental Health America
Mental Health America
is the nation's leading community-driven nonprofit dedicated to
promoting mental health and well-being, resilience, recovery, and
closing the mental health equity gap. Mental Health America's work
is driven by its commitment to promote mental health as a critical
part of whole person health, including prevention services for all;
early identification and intervention for those at risk; and
integrated care, services and supports for those who need them.
Learn more at MHAnational.org.
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SOURCE Mental Health America