In the U.S., we observe Mental Health Awareness Month every May, and this year is no different: May is Mental Health Awareness Month 2025.
During this annual awareness month, organizers from around the country – from local to state to nationwide – work together to promote three primary goals:
- Raise awareness about mental health disorders and treatment
- Reduce stigma around mental health disorders and treatment
- Recognize and honor the experiences of people with mental health disorders, challenges, or difficulties
The first MHAM occurred in 1949, founded and hosted by Mental Health America. Since its inception 76 years ago, various public and private groups have participated in MHAM, including the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA), among others.
For Mental Health Awareness Month 2025, the organizers at Mental Health America (MHA) chose this theme:
Turn Awareness Into Action
The organizers of MHAM recognize that while awareness and education are critical in and of themselves, they don’t exist in a vacuum. To be effective, they need to lead to the most important outcome of awareness months: taking action in order to make a practical difference in the lives of people here and now.
This year, MHA encourages participants in MHAM to turn engage in two different types of action:
Take Action for Your Own Mental Health
Take Action to Help Others
In this article, we’ll share their suggestions for taking specific action steps to help yourself and help others improve their mental health and overall wellness during Mental Health Awareness Month 2025. First, let’s take a look at the current facts and figures on mental health among adolescents and young adults.
Mental Health in 2025: The Latest Facts and Figures
The figures we share below include data from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2023 NSDUH), which is the most recent nationwide report on the prevalence of mental and behavioral disorders among people in the U.S. The University of Michigan collaborates with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to collect health and behavioral survey information from over 70,000 participants, which allows us to make population-level generalizations and reach conclusions relevant to a majority of people in the U.S.
First, we’ll look at rates of depression – mild/moderate and severe – among adolescents.
Major Depressive Episode (MDE): Adolescents 12-17 (2023)
- Reported at least one MDE: 18.1%
- Reported at least one MDE with severe impairment: 13.5%
That’s 4.5 million teens with MDE and 3.4 million with MDE with severe impairment.
Next, we’ll look at rates of depression – mild/moderate and severe – among adults between 18 and 49.
Major Depressive Episode (MDE): Adults Under 50
- Reported at least one MDE:
- 18-25: 17.5%
- 26-49: 10.2%
- Reported at least one MDE with severe impairment: 10.2%
- 18-25: 12.9% (4.4 million)
- 26-49: 7.4% (7.6 million
That’s 16.6 million adults 18-49 with MDE and 12 million with MDE with severe impairment.
Now, the results on a metric that’s frightening, and cause for alarm among parents: suicidality. First, among adolescents.
Suicidality: Adolescents (2023)
- Reported having serious thoughts of suicide: 13% (or 3.3 million people)
- Reported making a suicide plane: 5.9% (or 1.5 million people)
- Attempted suicide: 3.4% (846,000)
That’s around 5 million adolescents reporting suicidality.
Next, we’ll look at suicidality among adults 18-49.
Suicidality: Adults Under Age 50 (2023)
- Had serious thoughts of suicide in the past year:
- 18-25: 12.2%
- 26-49: 5.9%
- Made a suicide plan in the past year:
- 18-25: 4.2%
- 26-49: 1.6%
- Attempted suicide in the past year:
- 18-25: 2.0%
- 26-49: 0.6%
That’s close to 13 million adults 18-49 reporting suicidality.
We’ll close this facts and figures section with the latest big-picture, overall data on mental illness = mild/moderate or severe – among adults 18-49.
Adults With Any Mental Illness (AMI) in 2023:
- By Age Group:
- Total, 18+: 22.8%
- Young Adults 18-25: 33.8%
- Adults 26-49: 29.2%
That’s 41.8 million adults 18-49 with any mental illness.
Adults With Serious Mental Illness (SMI) in 2023:
- By Age Group:
- Total 18+: 5.7%
- Young adults 18-25: 10.5%
- Adults 26-49: 7.9%
That’s 11.7 million adults 18-49 with severe mental illness.
The data is clear. In 2023, there were tens of millions of adolescents and young adults with mild and moderate mental illness, millions with severe mental illness, and close to 20 million who engaged in some type of suicidal behavior.
That’s why we need awareness month like MHAM every year. We make progress, but there’s still significant work to do to ensure our youth and young adults can address mental health problems and improve their overall mental health and wellness.
Mental Health Awareness Month 2025: How to Participate
As we indicate above, the organizers of MHAM and Mental Health America encourage anyone who wants to participate in MHAH 2025 to choose one of two options: take action for their own mental health or take action to help others.
Here are their suggestions for taking action for yourself.
MHAM 2025: Take Action for Your Own Mental Health
- Educate yourself on mental health basics related to symptoms, treatment, and diagnosis.
- Learn what a healthy routine might look like – one that promotes positive mental health.
- Use this list of practical mental health tips – they remind you that you can empower yourself with the skills and tools you need to heal.
- Browse the items on this list of foods that can help create the foundation for positive mental health.
- Consider these online mental health assessments, or find a therapist for an in-person evaluation.
Note: if you think you have a mental health disorder, or you experience emotions you don’t understand and have trouble managing, the best way to help yourself is by arranging a full psychiatric evaluation with a mental health professional. While the self-assessment tests in #5 above are valid, peer-reviewed, and evidence-based, only a trained professional can diagnose a clinical mental health disorder. The assessments can help you determine if you may or may not have a mental health disorder – neither they nor the associated scores are diagnoses, in and of themselves.
With that said, we’ll now offer the MHA suggestions on how you can take action for others.
MHAM 2025: Seven Steps to Take Action to Help Others
- Download and share these MHAM graphics on social media
- Learn how to become a mental health advocate with this helpful guide.
- Educate yourself on mental health basics related to symptoms, treatment, and diagnosis.
- Take the next step and learn the vocabulary around public mental health policy
- Save and share this comprehensive mental health resource list with links to support for specific demographic groups.
- Work with your local NAMI to get involved in your community
- Apply to volunteer for the National Helpline, offering 24/7 help and support to people in mental health crisis.
The most important thing we want people to understand is that with professional support and evidence-based treatment, it’s possible to manage mental illness, behavioral disorders, and other psychological and emotional challenges and live a full and productive life.
During Mental Health Awareness Month 2025, you can use what you learn in this article to help yourself or help others address and overcome the mental health problems they face: treatment works – and the earlier a person who needs treatment gets the treatment they need, the better the outcome.
How to Find Support: Online Resources for Families
- The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is an excellent resource for locating licensed and qualified psychiatrists, therapists, and counselors in your area. Their treatment finder is convenient and easy to use.
- The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) maintains a page for youth, adolescent, and family mental health
- The National Alliance on Mental Illness maintains excellent resources for families
