U.S. leads in mental illness
Poised to rank No. 1 in world: Study
25% meet criteria for diagnosis
RICK WEISS
SPECIAL TO THE TORONTO STAR
(Now it has become obvious to me why there is a superabundance of American mental cases on SI!) RN.
A quarter of all Americans met the criteria for having a mental illness within the past year, and fully 25 per cent of those had a "serious" disorder that significantly disrupted their ability to function every day, says the largest and most detailed survey of the nation's mental health.
Although parallel studies in 27 other countries are not yet complete, the new numbers suggest the U.S. is poised to rank No. 1 for mental illness globally, researchers said.
"We lead the world in a lot of good things, but we're also leaders in this one particular domain that we'd rather not be," said Ronald Kessler, the Harvard professor of health care policy who led the effort, called the National Comorbidity Survey Replication.
The exhaustive government-sponsored effort, based on in-depth interviews with more than 9,000 randomly selected Americans, finds that the prevalence of mental illness has remained roughly flat in the past decade — a possible glimmer of hope given that previous decades had suggested the rates were gradually rising.
But the rest of the news from the survey released yesterday — which did not include some of the most serious disorders, such as schizophrenia, for which patients are often institutionalized — is mostly discouraging.
Less than half of those in need get treated. Those who seek treatment typically do so after a decade or more of delays, during which time they are likely to develop additional problems. And the treatment they receive is usually inadequate.
Younger sufferers are especially overlooked, the survey found, even though mental illness is very much a disease of youth. Half of those who will ever be diagnosed with a mental disorder show signs of the disease by age 14, and three quarters by age 24. But few get help.
Many factors contribute to these failings, the reports say, including inattention to early signs, inadequate health insurance and the lingering stigma around mental illness. |
