Percentage of US Adults Seeking Mental Health Treatment on the Rise

The percentage of US adults who received any kind of mental health treatment, those who had taken a prescription medication for their mental health, and those who received counseling or therapy from a mental health professional all increased year-over-year in 2020, according to a new data brief published by the National Center for Health Statistics.

In 2020, 20.3% of adults reported having received any form of mental health treatment in the prior 12 months, up from 19.2% surveyed in 2019. That includes 16.5% who had taken a prescription medication (vs. 15.8% a year earlier), and 10.1% who received counseling or therapy (compared to 9.5% in 2019).

The report was based on data from the National Health Interview Survey. Among its other findings:

• Women (25.6%) were more likely to receive any form of mental health treatment compared to men (14.6%), and were also more likely to have taken medication for mental health (21.2% vs. 11.5%), or receive counseling or therapy (12.1% vs. 7.9%).
• Non-Hispanic White (24.4%) adults were the most likely to have received any treatment, followed by Black (15.3%), Hispanic (12.6%), and Asian (7.7%) adults.
• Likelihood of treatment for mental health across all categories—any mental health treatment, use of prescription medication, seeing a counselor/therapist—decreased with age, with the highest rates reported by adults ages 18-44, followed by those 45-64, and then those 65 and older.

Urbanization also appeared to be a differentiator with regards to mental health treatment. The percentage of adults reporting they had received any form of mental health treatment or who had taken a prescription medication increased as their reported place of residence became more rural. However, the inverse was true with regards to seeing a therapist or counselor, which was more likely as survey participants reported more urban places of residence.