Depressing report on mental health

Too many Americans with mental disorders are going without professional help, a major government study reports. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) found that, in 2010, 20 percent of U.S. adults reported a mental illness yet fewer than 40 percent of that group received any treatment.

The SAMHSA report is an annual survey of about 67,500 people, aged 12 and older, across the country. Participants were counted as having a mental illness if, at any time in the past year, they had a diagnosable mental, behavioral or emotional disorder (excluding developmental and substance use disorders) of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic criteria specified within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. In addition to the 20 percent of adults who met the criteria, 12 percent of U.S. children between the ages of 12 and 17 suffered a major depressive episode in 2010, the report says, but a majority had not received any professional treatment. The cost of treatment was the most commonly cited reason for not getting help, among both adults and children, although parents also admitted reluctance to seek attention for their troubled kids out of misplaced concern about damaging their self-esteem.

The prevalence of untreated mental illness is a reason for concern in itself, said Dr. Ileana Arias, the Principal Deputy Director of the CDC, but it s also associated with chronic medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer, as well as several risk behaviors that include physical inactivity, smoking, excessive drinking, and insufficient sleep. Lack of treatment, then, takes an unnecessary toll on people s lives and health: Mental illnesses can be managed successfully, and people do recover, said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, emphasizing the importance of improving access to these services.

Unfortunately, says ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom, current pharmacological treatments for mental diseases, especially depression, get mixed marks. There are significant differences in the response of individuals to various antidepressant drugs, both in terms of efficacy and side effects. And there is currently no way to predict which drug will work for a given patient, so finding the best therapy may involve months of agony.

"People need to be more proactive about seeking treatment, and not feel ashamed about doing so, says ACSH s Lana Spivak. The stigma attached to mental disorders is a remnant of a bygone era; most people are no longer judgmental about it.