Nearly 1 in 5 Americans Had Mental Illness in 2009

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/732816

CHICAGO (Reuters) Nov 18 - More than 45 million Americans, or 20% of U.S. adults, had some form of mental illness last year, and 11 million had a serious illness, U.S. government researchers reported on Thursday.

Young adults aged 18 to 25 had the highest level of mental illness at 30%, while those aged 50 and older had the lowest, at 13.7%, said the report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration or SAMHSA.

The rate, slightly higher than last year's 19.5% figure, reflected increasing depression, especially among the unemployed, SAMHSA, part of the National Institutes of Health, said.

"Too many Americans are not getting the help they need and opportunities to prevent and intervene early are being missed," Pamela Hyde, SAMHSA's administrator, said in a statement.

"The consequences for individuals, families and communities can be devastating. If left untreated mental illnesses can result in disability, substance abuse, suicides, lost productivity, and family discord."

The 2009 mental health survey hints at the impact of record unemployment rates, which last year hit a 25-year high as struggling employers slashed jobs to cope with a weak economy.

For many, lost employment meant loss of health insurance, leaving many of the nation's mentally ill unable to get treatment.

According to the survey, 6.1 million adults last year had a mental health need that went untreated, and 42.5% said it was because they could not afford it.

It found 14.8 million Americans had major depression last year, and 10% of the jobless did, compared with 7.5% of retired people or those not in the job force, 7.3% who worked part time and 5.4% who worked full time.

Only 64% of adults aged 18 or older with major depression were treated last year, compared with 71% a year ago.

Being jobless also increased the risk of suicide.

Adults who were unemployed last year were twice as likely to have serious thoughts of suicide as people who were fully employed, with 6.6% of the unemployed considering suicide, compared with 3.1% of those who were working.

The survey also found that 23.8% of women had some form of mental illness, compared with 15.6% of men.

[villager]

1. I think this radically underestimates the level of mental illness in Americans.

That's not just a snarky quip -- I really do.

[RKP5637]

I agree. I think it's far higher too. Sometimes folks that do have mental illness don't

recognize it as such and are reluctant to cope with their mental health even in an anonymous survey. There is so much stigma associated with mental health.

Even coping with America today is enough to give one some mental illness IMO.

[Winterblues]

5. I agree completely with you

I believe almost half of all Americans are completely batshit insane. There really is no other explanation IMO why people would vote for Republicans with their track record..Batshit crazy or completely ignorant or possibly both..

[AlabamaLibrul]

13. Comparing an opposing political ideology to mental illness is still a cruel, inhuman tactic. n/t

[Posteritatis]

17. Yep, everyone knows mental illness is an exclusively Republican thing!

Anyone here suffering from something's just a Republican spy, because you've nailed it so clearly that mental illness boils down to "the other team's politics."

[w8liftinglady]

7. i agree...it doesn't include vets,per se,and ptsd

[Booster]

2. Sarah Palin's base.

[RKP5637]

4. I'd not want to be caught on a lonely street with some of her base I've seen. n/t

[superduperfarleft]

11. See post #6.

And stay classy.

[Posteritatis]

16. And any number of people here as well

But hey, fuck them, right?

[hughee99]

3. And yet they got elected anyway. n/t

[elocs]

6. Can we please stop equating mental illness with people we see as crazy because of their politics?

Anybody who wants to start a separate thread about how they think Republicans or Teabaggers are crazy, please do, but let's at least try and be a little sensitive and keep it out of a thread that deals with true mental illness.

For anyone who has suffered from mental illness (and it is suffering) or had a friend or loved one who suffered from it, the disease is no joke or laughing matter and it should not be lumped together with those with whom we disagree politically.

We're Democrats here and I expect better of us.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Thank you

[w8liftinglady]

9. i agree.I posted this because this is the first place cuts are made

and would be the most beneficial area to address,in my experience as a nurse and homeless volunteer.

[superduperfarleft]

12. I agree 100%. n/t

[we can do it]

10. and 1 in 5 Voted Repub.....Coincidence??

[Posteritatis]

15. Aren't you just classy. (nt)

[Posteritatis]

14. This article keeps coming up and assholes keep pulling out the "mentally ill = Republican" meme

Five cases of that hateful, ignorant bullshit in this thread alone - roughly typical of the responses every other time this has been posted.

It's pretty disgusting. I'd imagine anyone here with a psych diagnosis of some sort or another must feel really appreciated, considering the contempt so many here are determined to show them.

[w8liftinglady]

20. Agreed.As one who has been there as a caregiver and receiver,I see the need daily

people are afraid to admit their "needs" because of this kind of feedback.

[Posteritatis]

24. Yep; that mindset's nearly killed a couple of my friends

The concept's so actively, shamelessly stigmatized that people will choose going to some very bad places rather than risk admitting their Oh So Clear Inferiority or the like. And that's before getting into the extra layer of people stupid enough not to believe in mental illnesses in the first place.

The whole mindset pisses me off. You may have noticed. ;P

[AlabamaLibrul]

21. Indeed, I am apparently a teabagger. Anyone who thinks this way can jolly go fuck themselves. n/t

[AlabamaLibrul]

18. I find comparing voting Republican to a mental illness patently offensive. And I've spent time in

mental hospitals, so I'm just as good a judge as any other of mental illness.

CUT.
THE.
BULLSHIT.
OUT.

Being a moron does not mean you're mentally ill, but thanks for equating anyone who may have ever had a Dx or been prescribed a psychiatric medication to a Republican.

[Posteritatis]

22. And every single thread about this figure draws that type out in droves

I've seen five or so threads on this, and in every single one about a quarter of the respondents end up really needing to stop claiming they're oh-so progressive and tolerant.

[AlabamaLibrul]

23. Thank you for seeing through ad hominem attacks (against republicans no less) that only serve

to disparage those who actually have a mental illness.

[Posteritatis]

25. I see those replies more as attacks against said people, really

It's especially bad around this topic, but I can't think of many times where a news article posted here invoked someone who had a mental illness of some sort without a bunch of people deciding they just had to be the enemy, so it was alright to hate them for their condition.

A lot of people here are still stuck in the 1920s or so in that sense.

[Roon]

19. My phychirist sees a phychirist...

She's on medication too!

PS, i can't even get close enough for the spell checker to work. Sorry..