The latest reliable and vetted facts on mental health in the U.S. appear in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), published annually by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Although we’re more than halfway through 2024, the latest facts on mental health in the U.S. are from 2022, because it takes time to review data, ensure accuracy, and organize it for presentation. The NIH publishes the NSDUH toward the end of the year after data collection. The 2023 NSDUH will likely appear in November or December of this year.
We need to review NSDUH data on mental health for youth and adults because we need to be ready to meet any upcoming challenges previewed in the data. The more we know about the current state of mental health among people in the U.S. – both young and older – the better we can prepare to offer comprehensive support to any and every patient we admit to one of our treatment programs.
Mental Health Among Young Adults and Adults
We’ll start this section with the two broad categories the NSDUH uses for adults: any mental illness (AMI) and serious mental illness (SMI). Keep in mind that AMI and SMI can mean a clinical diagnosis of a depressive disorder, an anxiety disorder, a personality disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or any type of psychotic disorder. Serious mental illness refers to the level of disruption the mental illness causes: if it prevents a person from engaging in typical daily activity, it’s considered serious.
Any Mental Illness (AMI):
- Adults 18+: 23.1% (59.2 million)
- Received treatment: 50.6% (29.9 million)
- 18-25: 36.2% (12.5 million)
- Received treatment: 49.1% (6.1 million)
- 26-49: 29.4% (30.1 million)
- Received treatment: 50% (15.1 million)
- 50+: 13.9% (16.5 million)
- Received treatment: 52.7% (8.7 million)
Serious Mental Illness (SMI):
- Adults 18+: 6.0 % (15.3 million)
- Received treatment: 66.7% (10.2 million)
- 18-25: 11.6 % (4.0 million)
- Received treatment: 61.4% (2.4 million)
- 26-49: 7.6 % (7.8 million)
- Received treatment: 4% (5.2 million)
- 50+: 3.0 % (3.5 million)
- Received treatment: 71.0% (2.5 million)
MDE, MDE With Severe Impairment, Prevalence and Treatment Among Adults 18+
- Adults 18+ with MDE:
- Total: 8.8% (22.5.0 million) total
- 18-25: 20.1% (7.0 million)
- 26-49: 9.7% (10.0 million)
- 50+: 4.6% (5.5 million)
- Adults 18+ with MDE with severe impairment:
- Total: 6.2% (15.9 million)
- 18-25: 14.7% (5.1 million)
- 26-49: 6.9% (7.1 million)
- 50+: 3.1% (3.7 million)
This year, the NSDUH included questions to determine the number of adults who had either SUD or AMI. Here’s what they report:
- Adults 18 to 25: 33.4% (11.6 million) had either SUD or AMI
- Among adults 26-49: 26.5% (27.2 million) had either SUD or AMI
- Adults 50+: 13.2% (15.7 million) had either SUD or AMI
They also collected data on adults with past year AMI or SMI who used illicit drugs in the past year. Here’s what they report:
- Adults 18+ with AMI: 43.9% used illicit drugs in the past year
- With SMI: 9%
- Adults 18+ without AMI or SMI: 20.6% used illicit drugs in the past year
We can see clear evidence here that rates of illicit drug use are almost three times as high among people with AMI or SMI compared to people without AMI or SMI. This data helps us calibrate efforts across all our areas of work: advocacy, education, treatment, and support.
That’s the data for adults.
Next, we’ll review the latest facts on mental health among adolescents.
Mental Health Among Adolescents 12-17
This data is important to us for a simple reason: we work with adolescents, young adults, and their families every day, and we need to know what’s happening now and what to expect over the next several years. By today, many of the teens in this survey have become young adults, and both groups need our support.
MDE, MDE With Severe Impairment, Prevalence and Treatment Among Adolescents 12-17
- Adolescents 12-17 with MDE:
- Total: 19.5% (4.8 million)
- 12-13: 13.0% (1.0 million)
- 14-15: 21.4% (1.8 million)
- 16-17: 23.8% (1.9 million)
- Adolescents with MDE, Received Treatment:
- Total: 56.8% (2.7 million)
- 12-13: 46.9% (474,000)
- 14-15: 45.6% (847,000)
- 16-17: 50.5% (964,000)
- Adolescents 12-17 with MDE with severe impairment:
- Total: 14.4% (3.6 million)
- 12-13: 9.1% (718,000)
- 14-15: 16.2% (1.4 million)
- 16-17: 18.2% (1.5 million)
- Adolescents with MDE with Severe Impairment, Received Treatment:
- Total: 52.7% (1.9 million)
- 12-13: 53.2% (369,000)
- 14-15: 50.2% (703,000)
- 16-17: 57% (831,000)
In 2022, the NSDUH included questions to determine the number of adolescents with MDE who also used illicit drugs. Here’s what they report:
- Among adolescents with MDE: 26.1% used illicit drugs in the past year
- Among adolescents without MDE: 11.5% used illicit drugs in the past year
That’s a clear example of why this data matters: rates of illicit drug use are almost three times higher among adolescents with a past year MDE, compared to adolescents without a past year MDE. We’ll report further on co-occurring disorders – when people have a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder at the same time – in a section to follow.
This leads us to the final data set we’ll share: the prevalence of co-occurring disorders and treatment for people with co-occurring disorders.
Co-Occurring Mental Health Disorder and AUD/SUD: Service Use
As above, we’ll start with the data on adults.
- Adults 18+ with AMI and a SUD/AUD:
- 8.4% (21.5 million total)
- 59.1% (12.7 million) received either SUD treatment or mental health treatment
- 37.9% received only mental health treatment
- 4.2% (910,000) received only SUD treatment
- 17% (3.7 million) received treatment for both
- 40.9% (8.8 million) didn’t receive either type of treatment
- Adults 18+ with SMI and a SUD/AUD:
- 2.99% (7.4 million total)
- 71.2% (5.3 million) received either SUD treatment or mental health treatment
- 44.9% (3.3 million) received only mental health treatment
- 2.3% (173,000) received only SUD treatment
- 23.9% (1.8 million) received treatment for both
- 28.8% (2.1 million) didn’t receive either type of treatment
Now for the data on adolescents:
- Adolescents 12-17 with MDE and SUD/AUD:
- Total: 922,000
- 71.6% (660,000) received either SUD treatment or mental health treatment
- 49.3% (454,000) received only mental health treatment
- 1.5% (14,000) received only SUD treatment
- 20.8% (192,00) received treatment for both
- 28.% (262,000) didn’t receive either type of treatment
- Treatment setting, Adolescents 12-17:
- Outpatient: 23%
- Inpatient/residential: 3.0%
- School: 12.2%
- General medical office: 9.4%
- Juvenile justice facility: 1.2%
- Virtual care: 13.8%
That’s all the data we’ll share – for now. The last set of statistics is an instructive place to stop. It tells us that there’s a serious treatment gap for people with co-occurring disorders. This reminds us of the core mantra of whole-person treatment: when a person has a mental health disorder and another disorder at the same time, treating one and not the other typically leads to attenuated and unsatisfactory outcomes for both. In a comprehensive, whole-person treatment model, treatment runs concurrently when appropriate, which can enhance and improve outcomes.
Valuable Data For 2023, 2024, and Beyond
It takes time to collect and verify data in order to make it useful.
That’s why the 2022 NSDUH gets published now, in 2024: it took that long to analyze the data and prepare it for publication. While it takes time to organize the latest facts on mental health, the service is invaluable. Here’s how SAMHSA describes the contents of these yearly reports:
“NSDUH estimates allow researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and the general public to better understand and improve the nation’s behavioral health.”
That’s what it does: it helps us understand what’s happening in the U.S. with regards to drug use and mental health with concrete data and statistical analysis. That’s why we read it every year, and that’s why we share this data with you, now. Our mission is to offer the best SUD and mental health treatment available, and we can only do that with the best and latest knowledge – which you now have access to as well, in the form of this article, and the links we provide throughout.
