United States: Mental Illness has always caused problems and is one of the more concerning topics in healthcare. Recently, it was revealed that approximately 58.7 million US adults, which is around 23 percent, have dealt with some type of mental illness in 2023.
The survey was conducted as a national survey on mental health and substance use released by HHS. According to the conclusion of the study, around 4.5 million youth aged 12 to 17 years were dealing with a major depressive episode during 2023.
PhD, HHS assistant secretary for mental health and substance use and leader of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration – Miriam E Delphin-Rittmon, stated, “The results, which come from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), provide an opportunity to identify and address unmet health care needs across America.”
The health expert also mentioned, “We’re pleased to see that more people received mental health treatment in 2023 than the previous year.”
Probability sampling was used by NSDUH to find out how civilian noninstitutionalized individuals of age 12 or older report their experiences with substance use, mental health conditions, and their pursuit of treatment.
Along with this, some other mental health data has shown that around 12.8 million individuals thought of suicide, 3.7 million made plans to commit suicide, and around 1.5 million attempted suicide.
The study has further revealed that the notable substance use included:
- Around 61.8 million people – aged 12 years or older – used Marijuana as an illicit drug during the previous year. It is the most used drug, as per the experts.
- Misused opioids were the second most common drug, which was used by nearly 9 million people. It is to be noted that similar findings were reported in 2022 and 2021.
- Alcohol was the third most-used drug by Americans. Around 45 percent of the 134.7 million people opt for drinking.
- Nicotine was vaped by 9.4 percent of the adults aged 12 or older. The percentage has been increased from 8.3 percent in 2022.
However, health experts have mentioned that they have witnessed progress in treatment for mental health and substance use disorders.
Mental health treatment has been received by 8.3 million adults, aged 12 to 17 years, significant increase from 2022, during which 500,000 people received treatment.
In 2023, one in four individuals classified as needing substance use disorder treatment, amounting to 12.8 million people, received such treatment within the past year.
According to NSDUH data, 30.5 million adults reported having a substance abuse problem, with 73.1 percent of them considering themselves to be in recovery or recovered.