According to a study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the number of self-reported mental illnesses among the non-elderly in the United States is increasing.
Researcher Ramin Mojtabai analyzed data from the U.S. National Health Interview Survey, which involved 312,364 adults between the ages of 18 and 64. He found that the number of self-reported mental illnesses in the United States increased from 2 percent from 1997 to 1999 to 2.7 percent from 2007 to 2009, according to a Johns Hopkins press release. He said the increase equals almost 2 million new people with a self-reported mental illness.
“These findings highlight the need for improved access to mental health services in our communities and for better integration of these services with primary care delivery,” said Mojtabai. “While the trend in self-reported mental health disability is clear, the causes of this trend are not well understood.”
Heather Rudow is a staff writer for Counseling Today. Email her at hrudow@counseling.org.