depression | eating disorders | suicide | violence | drugs | others

Mental illness is far more common than most people realize. It's important to know this. If you, your friend, your child, or someone else in your family is suffering from a problem, it's nothing to be embarrassed about—and seeking treatment will help.

• Mental and neurological disorders strike more than 400 million people globally. (World Health Organization)

• An estimated 20 percent of children and adolescents have mental, behavioral, or developmental disorders—yet only one third of them receives treatment. (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services)

• An estimated 22.1 percent of Americans (roughly 44.3 million people) age 18 and older suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year. That's about 1 out of every 5 adults. (National Institute of Mental Health)

• 4 of the 10 leading causes of disability in the U.S. and other developed countries are mental disorders: depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. (National Institute of Mental Health)

• Severe mental illnesses are more common than cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. (National Alliance of the Mentally Ill)

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depression

Approximately 18.8 million American adults (about 9.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year) have a depressive disorder such as major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, and bipolar disorder. (National Institute of Mental Health)

• Nearly twice as many women (12 percent) as men (6.6 percent) are affected by a depressive disorder each year. These figures translate to 12.4 million women and 6.4 million men in the U.S. (National Institute of Mental Health)

• 70 percent of those suffering from major depression can fully recover if properly treated. (World Health Organization)

• Bipolar disorder affects approximately 2.3 million American adults, or about 1.2 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year. (National Institute of Mental Health)

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eating disorders

• Females are much more likely than males to develop an eating disorder. (National Institute of Mental Health)

• 5-10 million adolescent girls and women struggle with eating disorders. (Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention, Inc.)

• 1 million boys and men struggle with eating disorders. (Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention, Inc)

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suicide

• In 1997, more than 30,500 people died from committing suicide in the U.S. (National Institute of Mental Health)

• More than 90 percent of people who kill themselves have a diagnosable mental disorder, commonly a depressive disorder or a substance abuse disorder. (National Institute of Mental Health)

• In 1997, suicide was the third leading cause of death among young people aged 15 to 24. (National Institute of Mental Health)

• Globally, there are one million suicides a year out of a total of 10 million attempts. (World Health Organization)

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violence

• Nearly one out of every three American women (31 percent) say they have been physically or sexually abused at some point in their lives. (Family Violence Prevention Fund)

• Approximately one in five female high school students reports being physically or sexually abused by a dating partner. (Journal of the American Medical Association)

• An estimated 683,000 adult women are raped each year. (National Women's Study 1990)

• 85 percent of all sexual assaults are committed by a family member, friend, or acquaintance of the victim. (Rape Crisis Center)

• 50 percent of the men who frequently assault their wives also frequently abuse their children. (Family Violence Prevention Fund)

• One-quarter to one-half of all incidents of domestic violence are drug-related. (Drug Enforcement Administration)

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drugs

• By 1999, 87.7 million people in the U.S. had tried an illegal drug (Drug Enforcement Administration)

• 3.2 percent of pregnant women - nearly 80,000 mothers - use drugs regularly. (Drug Enforcement Administration)

• More than 1 in 10 young people aged 12-17 (10.9 percent) were current users of illicit drugs in 1999. (Drug Enforcement Administration)

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others

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

• ADHD, one of the most common mental disorders in children and adolescents, affects as many as 2 million American children. (National Institute of Mental Health)

Schizophrenia

• Approximately 2.2 million American adults, or about 1.1 percent of the population age 18 and older in a given year, have schizophrenia.

• Schizophrenia is rare in children under 12, but occurs in about 3 out of every 1000 adolescents. (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services)

Anxiety Disorders

• Approximately 19.1 million American adults ages 18 to 54 (about 13.3 percent of people in this age group) have an anxiety disorder such as panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, or phobias (social phobia, agoraphobia, and specific phobia). (National Institute of Mental Health)

• Women are more likely than men to have an anxiety disorder. Approximately twice as many women as men suffer from panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, and specific phobia. Roughly equal numbers of women and men have obsessive-compulsive disorder and social phobia. (National Institute of Mental Health)

Autism

• Autism affects an estimated 1 to 2 persons per 1,000 people. (National Institute of Mental Health)

• Autism is about 4 times more common in boys than in girls. (National Institute of Mental Health)

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