The Alarming Statistics on Mental Health
On June 17th of this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its most extensive review of the world’s mental health since the turn of the century. Here is what the report found:
In 2019, nearly a billion people, including 14% of teens, were living with a mental disorder
Suicide accounted for more than 1 in 100 deaths
58% of suicides occurred before the age of 50
Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability, causing 1 in 6 years lived with a disability
People with severe mental health conditions die on average 10 to 20 years earlier than the general population, primarily due to preventable physical diseases that stem from psychological symptoms
Childhood sexual abuse and bullying victimization are significant causes of depression
Social and economic inequalities, public health emergencies, war, and the climate crisis are among the global, structural threats to mental health
Depression and anxiety went up by more than 25% in the first year of the pandemic alone
Additional reports from December 2020 to January 2021 found the following percentages of individuals reporting suffering from anxiety and/or depressive disorders:
Anxiety 35.8%
Depression 28.4%
Both anxiety and depressive disorders 41.1%
Broken down by age group, the U.S. Census Bureau/Kaiser Family Foundation discovered the percentages of those affirming depressive disorders to be as follows:
18-24 years of age 56.2%
25-49 48.9%
50-64 39.1%
65+ 29.3%
For 2022 to date, national statistics show that Florida ranks smack dab in the middle of U.S. states, sandwiched between New Jersey at #1 and Colorado at #50 with the prevalence of mental illness and rates of access to care. That means that NJ has the lowest prevalence of mental health and the highest rate of access to care for adults. Conversely, CO has the highest prevalence of mental health and the lowest rates of access to care. This statistic is for adults. For youth, Florida comes in at #30, with Pennsylvania in the #1 spot and Nevada last.
The W.H.O. hones in on U.S. statistics for adults, highlighting the following:
19.86% of adults are experiencing a mental illness. Equivalent to nearly 50 million Americans
4.91% are experiencing a severe mental illness
The percentage of adults reporting serious thoughts of suicide is 4.58%. The estimated number of adults with serious suicidal thoughts is over 11.4 million - an increase of 664,000 people from last year's data set
The national rate of adults experiencing suicidal ideation has increased every year since 2011-2012.
For youth (ages 12-17), the following data was discovered for 2022:
15.08% of youth (age 12-17) report suffering from at least one major depressive episode (MDE) in the past year
Childhood depression is more likely to persist into adulthood if gone untreated
The number of youths experiencing depression increased by 306,000 (1.24%) from last year's data set.
As a therapist, I do not take these statistics lightly. In fact, I interpret them — as I would imagine all of my peers would — as motivation to do our jobs as professionally, thoroughly, compassionately, and intently as possible to reach more people. Unfortunately, over half (56%) of adults with a mental illness receive no treatment, which translates to over 27 million individuals going untreated. Of youth, 60.3% with major depression do not receive any mental health treatment. Even among the states with the greatest access for youth, 1 in 3 youth are still not receiving the mental health services they need.
How this translates for us as Floridians is alarming. Florida is tied with Georgia in the 49th and 50th positions, ranking only behind Hawaii, with 63.5% of adults not getting help. This is 7.6% worse than the national average. For youth, Florida comes in at #45 with 67.3% of youth not receiving any treatment.
Clearly, there is room for improvement. W.H.O. recently redefined its mental health awareness goals to include clear-cut strategies to reach more youth and adults. They include increasing the number of counselors, therapists, and clinicians and preserving access to telehealth services that proved their usefulness and effectiveness during the pandemic.
The Spanish River Counseling Center has an entire staff of therapists, male and female, ranging in age and specialty, with a variety of scheduling options. Telehealth services (phone or video cam) are also provided to add convenience and flexibility. Therapist profiles are available on the center’s website, which can be accessed via www.spanishrivercounseling.com or by going to the church website and clicking on the “care and support” tab, where you’ll see the link for the center’s home page. New client forms can be submitted via the website or by speaking with one of our caring and supportive team members. If you or someone you know needs help, there is a high likelihood of finding the “right” fit to create a therapeutic relationship that will facilitate connection and positive change. Let us help. It would be our honor.
— Jill Dagistino