Statistics

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, mental illnesses are actually highly prevalent in adults today.

• The data presented here are from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) , which defines any mental illness (AMI) as:
  • A mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder (excluding developmental and substance use disorders);
  • Diagnosable currently or within the past year; and,
  • Of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic criteria specified within the 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).

Based off of this graph, it’s easy to see that there’s actually a large number of adults suffering from mental illnesses, which is shocking. As of 2012, there were about 43.7 million adults in the United States who suffered from any kind of mental illness. This was a higher number than I expected because it’s just a reminder that a lot of times it’s not that obvious if people are suffering from a mental illness.