Mental Health is a Top Priority

Based on the latest annual assessment of mental health, twenty percent of Americans, meaning 43,7 million, suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder, whereas over fifty percent of them don’t receive proper medical assistance.

Depression rates are on the rise among the younger population, while eighty percent of kids and teenagers do not receive treatment. These statistics reveal a critical situation regarding the total American population, as people need to improve their lifestyle and receive access to healthcare, according to Paul Gionfriddo, Mental Health America President.

Gionfriddo further stressed the importance of prevention and early diagnosis. Although a significant number of Americans have health insurance, the latest survey suggests that they don’t receive the adequate treatment.

During this study, researchers analyzed the situation from all 50 states including the District of Columbia by using various measures accounting for adults suffering from mental health conditions as well as teenagers and children with minimum one significant depressive episode within the previous year.

Scientists also found that people living in Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas had less to no access to proper medication added to the highest number of imprisonment cases. More precisely, over 57,000 people were incarcerated, all of them suffering from mental health disorders.

Gionfriddo points to a dire need for new regulations and better initiatives that will redirect the money spent on prisons and jails towards public mental health care.

Based on the report, the three states which had the lowest mental illness prevalence and excellent access to treatment were in New England: Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, while the states regarded as the worst were Nevada, Arizona, and Oregon.

Experts also calculated which states have shown the highest improvement over the past year and concluded that these were Oklahoma, New Mexico, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

Furthermore, the states which had the lowest rate of mentally ill young people and the best mental health care were Connecticut, South Dakota, and Minnesota, while the worst were again Arkansas, Arizona, and Oregon.

Gionfriddo and many others stress on the important of a powerful initiative that will tackle this widely-spread problem. People must leave behind the mental health stigma and adopt a healthier perspective because a part of the mentally-ill people across the United States think their problem is easily manageable and so, they don’t go to a doctor.

Image Source:CBC