Facts
Facts About Mental Illness
Mental illnesses are medical conditions characterized by altered thinking, mood, or behavior that causes distress or impaired functioning. Mental illness affects people of every age, race, religion, and income; it is not the result of a flawed character, weak resolve, or lack of intelligence. You can’t “just get over it.”
Mental illnesses exact enormous human and economic costs worldwide, but these diseases are treatable. People can — and do — regain their mental health through a combination of good medical and psychiatric care, community support services, and meaningful relationships.
Worldwide ...
One person in a hundred develops schizophrenia1.
Four of the ten leading causes of disability for persons age 5 and older are mental disorders2.
Among developing nations, including the United States, major depression is the leading cause of disability. Also near the top of these rankings are bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder3.
Among developing nations, mental disorders collectively account for more than 15 percent of the overall burden of disease from all causes and slightly more than the burden associated with all forms of cancer4.
In the United States ...
For about 1 in 6 Americans, adulthood – a time for achieving productive vocations and for sustaining close relationships at home and in the community – is interrupted by mental illness5.
About 10% of the adult population use mental health services in the health sector in any given year, with another 5% seeking such services from social service agencies, schools or religious or self-help groups6.
In 1996, the direct costs for mental disorders totaled $69 billion dollars7.
Percentages of the adult population (ages 18 and above) with severe mental disorders in a given year8:
Schizophrenia 1.1%
Bipolar Disorder 2.6%
Major Depressive Disorder 6.7%
Panic Disorder 2.7%
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder 1.0%
Almost 2.5 million people are affected by schizophrenia in any given year. An estimated 1 in 10 young men with the illness dies by suicide9.
Mood disorders such as major depression and bipolar disorder affect nearly 20 million adults each year10.
More than 90% of people who kill themselves have a diagnosable mental disorder, commonly a depressive disorder or a substance abuse disorder11.
Nearly twice as many women (12%) as men (6.6%) are affected by a depressive disorder each year12.
In New York City ...
The median cost of a psychiatric hospitalization is $2000 a day13. For the cost of a two-week hospitalization ($28,000), Fountain House can provide housing to a person for one year with a full complement of community support services and opportunities for employment, education, and socialization.
There are an estimated 10,000 men and women with major mental illness living on the streets14.
Sources
1 Murray CJL, Lopez AD, eds. Summary: The global burden of disease: a comprehensive assessment of mortality and disability from diseases, injuries, and risk factors in 1990 and projected to 2020. Cambridge, MA: Published by Harvard School of Public Health on behalf of the World Health Organization and World Bank, Harvard University Press, 1996.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General – Executive Summary. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 1999.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), The Numbers Count: Mental Disorder in America, 2008.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
11 Hoyert DL, Kochanek KD, Murphy SL. Death: final data for 1997. National Vital Statistics Report, 47 (19). DHHS Publication No. 99-1120. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, 1999.
12 Narrow WE. One-year prevalence of depressive disorders among adults 18 and over in the U.S.: NIMH ECA prospective data. Unpublished.
13 H-CUPnet. Agency for Healthcare and Quality. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2007 data.
14 Culhane, Dennis P. The Impact of Supportive Housing for Homeless People with Severe Mental Illness on the Utilization of the Public Health, Corrections, and Emergency Shelter Systems: The New York-New York Initiative. University of Pennsylvania, 2001.
