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Mental Health Resources

NAMI (2019) on Prevalence of Mental Health
 

Prevalence of Mental Health

Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. (46.6 million) experiences mental illness in a given year.1 Approximately 1 in 25 adults in the U.S. (11.2 million) experiences a serious mental illness in a given year that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities.2 Approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 (21.4%) experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. For children aged 8–15, the estimate is 13%. 6.9% of adults in the U.S.—16 million—had at least one major depressive episode in the past year. 18.1% of adults in the U.S. experienced an anxiety disorder such as posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and specific phobias. Among the 20.2 million adults in the U.S. who experienced a substance use disorder, 50.5%—10.2 million adults—had a co-occurring mental illness.

Mental Health in the African American Community

According to the US HHS Office of Minority Health: Adult Black/African Americans are 20 percent more likely to report serious psychological distress than adult white Americans. Adult Black/African Americans living below poverty are three times more likely to report serious psychological distress than those living above poverty. Adult Black/African Americans are more likely to have feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and worthlessness than are adult whites. While Black/African Americans are less likely than white people to die from suicide as teenagers, Black/African Americans teenagers are more likely to attempt suicide than are white teenagers (8.3 percent v. 6.2 percent). ​Black/African Americans of all ages are more likely to be victims of serious violent crime than are non-Hispanic whites, making them more likely to meet the diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  Black/African Americans are also twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to be diagnosed with schizophrenia.  ​

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