Running head: MENTAL HEALTH IN THE US

Mental Health in the US

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MENTAL HEALTH IN THE US 2

Mental Health in the US

Introduction

As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), mental health

encompasses our physical, psychological, and societal well-being. It has an impact on the way

we think, feels, and behave. It also influences how we deal with stress, interacts with others, and

make decisions. Mental health is essential to a successful life, including preschool, adolescent,

and maturity levels. In the United States, mental illnesses are pretty widespread. Almost one in

every five adults in the United States has a mental disease (51.5 million in 2019). Mental

disorders encompass a wide range of conditions with potentially serious consequences, ranging

from mild to severe. These circumstances can be classified into two broad categories: Any

Mental Illness (AMI) and Serious Mental Illness (SMI) are two types of mental illnesses.

Statistics

In 2019, 20.6 percent of adults in the United States had a mental illness which translates

to 51.5 million people. This equates to one out of every five adults. In 2019, 5.2 percent of adults

in the United States were diagnosed with a severe mental illness representing 13.1 million

people. This equates to one in every twenty adults (NAMI, n.d.). In 2016, 16.5 percent of

American teenagers aged between 6 to 17 had a mental health problem which translates to 7.7

million people. In 2019, 3.8 percent of adults in the United States had a co-occurring substance

abuse problem and mental illness, representing 9.5 million people (NAMI, n.d.). The following

is the annual diagnosis of mental illness among adults in the United States, broken down by

demographic group: Non-Hispanic Asians make up 14.4% of the population, while non-Hispanic
MENTAL HEALTH IN THE US 3

whites make up 22.2 percent, non-Hispanic black or African-Americans make up 17.3%, and

non-Hispanic American Indians or Alaska Natives make up 18.7%.

Causes

While the precise cause of most psychiatric disorders is unknown, the evidence is

showing that a range of biological, psychological, and environmental causes are responsible for

many of these disorders. The impaired operation of nerve cell circuits or pathways that bind

specific parts of the brain has been connected to some mental illnesses. Neurotransmitters are

chemicals that nerve cells in these brain circuits use to coordinate. Medicines, psychotherapy,

and other medical treatments that "tweak" these chemicals can help brain circuits function more

efficiently. Furthermore, particularly psychiatric disorders have been attributed to abnormalities

in or damage to the brain's specific regions. Genetic factors (hereditary factors), illnesses, brain

abnormalities or injuries, prenatal injury, and drug abuse, amongst many other biological factors,

can all play a role in the creation of mental illness (Bhandari, 2020). Severe psychological

distress as an infant, such as emotional, physical, or sexual assault, a crucial early developmental

loss, including the loss of a family member, abandonment, and a weak emotional attachment to

others are all psychological factors that may lead to mental illness. In an individual who is prone

to mental disorder, some stressors may set off an infection. Death or separation, a troubled home

life, feelings of helplessness, poor self-esteem, anxiety, frustration, or depression, switching

employment or learning institutions, social or cultural standards, and drug and alcohol abuse by

the individual or his or her parents are all examples of stressors ((Bhandari, 2020).

Prevention and Treatment

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In 2015, the Mental Health Foundation undertook a rapid analysis of the data's existing

state, which revealed that there are still differences among some demographics and phases of

development (Mental Health Foundation, 2015). The proceeding step is to gain a better

understanding of these high-risk populations and investigate possible intervention measures.

Multiple stakeholders and professional areas of expertise are working to improve prevention.

Recent research released in The Lancet Psychiatry discusses psychiatry's role in bettering our

comprehension of how to avoid mental health issues (Arango et al., 2018). Based on the search,

the key actions that ought to be taken as preventive measures against mental illness include:

translating scientific findings for cost-effective preventive strategies into public health programs,

medical care, and service provision processes, improve social, educational, and political

understanding of advances and the value of mental health prevention and management, and drive

medical care toward at-risk-oriented diagnosis and intervention.

Conclusion

At all phases of the (working) development cycle, the critical policy issues and the scope

of the solutions and supports required are highly homologous. They entail better-integrated

services involving various actors and processes cooperating, sharing client information, and

referring clients to one another. Sufficient, effective, and well-coordinated incentives would

necessitate the interaction and collaboration of job programs, health services, educational

institutions, and profit authorities – at various times and in diverse manners.

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Reference

Arango, C., Díaz-Caneja, C. M., McGorry, P. D., Rapoport, J., Sommer, I. E., Vorstman, J. A., ...

& Carpenter, W. (2018). Preventive strategies for mental health. The Lancet Psychiatry,

5(7), 591-604.

Bhandari, S. (2020, June 30). Causes of mental illness [Video]. WebMD.

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-health-causes-mental-illness

CDC. (2018). Mental Health.

https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/learn/index.htm#:~:text=1%20in%205%20Americans

%20will,illness%20in%20a%20given%20year.&text=1%20in%205%20children%2C

%20either,a%20seriously%20debilitating%20mental%20illness.&text=1%20in

%2025%20Americans%20lives,bipolar%20disorder%2C%20or%20major

%20depression.

Mental Health Foundation (2015) Prevention review: landscape paper. Mental Health

Foundation, Nov 2015.

NAMI. (n.d.), Mental Health By the Numbers.

https://www.nami.org/mhstats#:~:text=20.6%25%20of%20U.S.%20adults

%20experienced,represents%201%20in%2020%20adults.