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Nearly 1 in 4 US Adults Report Past-Year Mental Illness
About 59.3 million US adults—nearly 1 in 4 of those at least 18 years old—had a mental illness within the past year, including 15.4 million who had a serious mental illness, according to data from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).
Results of the annual survey were released by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) on Monday.
>> RELATED: NSDUH findings on substance use and recovery
Conducted each year since 1971, the NSDUH provides nationally representative data on self-reported use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs, as well as data on SUDs, mental health conditions, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and substance use and mental health treatment among Americans who are at least 12 years old.
“This data informs knowledge, policy and action, and drives our shared commitment across government, healthcare, industry and community to offer resources and services to those in need,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a news release.
The NSDUH defines any mental illness (AMI) among adults as “the presence of a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder within the past year of a sufficient duration to meeting criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, excluding developmental disorders and substance use disorders.” Serious mental illness, meanwhile, refers to a disorder “that substantially interfered with or limited 1 or more major life activities.”
>> DEEP DIVE: View SAMHSA infographic with additional NSDUH findings
The NSDUH produced the following findings related to adult mental health:
- 1 in 11 adults (8.8% of those at least 18 years old) had a past-year major depressive episode, and 1 in 12 (8.4%) had co-occurring AMI and SUD. More than one-third of adults who had AMI also had a past-year SUD.
- About 13.2 million adults (5.2%) had serious thoughts of suicide, while 3.8 million made suicide plans, and 1.6 million attempted suicide.
- According to NSDUH findings, about 62.3 million adults perceived they have ever had a mental health issue. Among those, 40.8 million considered themselves to be in recovery or having recovered.
The NSDUH also included the following mental health-related findings for adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17:
- The rate of those with a past-year major depressive episode was about 1 in 5. Among adolescents with a major depressive episode, 19.5% had a co-occurring substance use disorder.
- 3.4 million (more than 1 in 8) had serious thoughts of suicide within the past year, 1.7 million made suicide plans, and 953,000 adolescents attempted suicide.
Of note, the NSDUH included response choices for “I’m not sure” and “I don’t want to answer” for questions related to suicidal thoughts and behaviors among adolescents. More than half (52.7%) of adolescent survey participants chose one of these responses for each of the questions, meaning figures related to suicidal thoughts and behaviors among adolescents may be underestimated.
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