Mental Illness Fact Sheet

National Alliance on Mental Illness: U.S. Mental Health Statistics.

• One in four adults - approximately 57.7 million Americans - experience a mental health disorder in a given year.
• 2.4 million live with schizophrenia.
• 5.7 million are a affected by bipolar disorder.
• 14.8 million have a major depressive disorder. According to 2004 World Health Reports, this is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. and Canada in ages between 15 to 44.
• 40 million Americans are affected by anxiety disorders - panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder, and phobias.
• 5.2 million adults have co-occurring mental helath and addiction disorders. Thirty-one percent of homeless adults reported having a combination of these conditions.
• Fewer than 1/3 of adults and 1/2 of children with a diagnosible mental disorder receive any mental health services.
• Racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to have access to mental health services and often receive a poorer quality of care.
• More than 90 percent of those who die by suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder.
• Twenty-four percent of state prisoners and 21 percent of local jail prisoners have a recent history of a mental disorder.

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For more information on prisoners and mental health see: http://www.thewomenofblock12.com/.