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| Sholeh Patrick |
Putting numbers to an enemy
May is mental health awareness month.
Did you know:
• More than 54 million Americans have a mental disorder in any given year, although fewer than 8 million seek treatment. Depression and anxiety disorders account for 38 million of those, women at twice the rate of men. Depressed people are four times as likely to develop heart disease.
• One percent of Americans (more than 2.5 million) have schizophrenia; two million have bipolar disorder, or manic-depressive illness.
• Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa affect millions annually; 85 to 90 percent are teens/young adults.
• Drugs and mental illness are linked; 15 percent of mentally ill adults also abuse drugs (sometimes called self-medicating), which complicates treatment.
• Up to half of all visits to primary care physicians are for conditions caused or exacerbated by mental/emotional problems.
• Adult Caucasians who are depressed are more likely to receive treatment than non-Caucasians, even though the incidence rate is about the same. Minorities are nearly twice as likely to be without insurance.
• Depression affects about 6 million American seniors, but only 10 percent receive treatment.
• One in five children has a diagnosable mental, emotional or behavioral disorder. One in 33 children and one in eight teens are clinically depressed. One in 10 children has a serious emotional disturbance; 70 percent of those do not get treated.
• Abused persons have a higher risk of mental illness.
• Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds, and the sixth leading cause for 5- to 14-year-olds. Twenty percent of all suicides are age 65 or older, but that age group represents 13 percent of the population.
• Twenty percent of youths in juvenile justice facilities have a serious emotional disturbance and most have a diagnosable mental disorder. An additional 30 percent in these facilities have substance abuse disorders.
"Our greatest enemy is not to be found on the outside. We are vexed most by our own minds." -- Sheng-yen
Sholeh Patrick is an attorney and a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Send e-mail to sholehjo@hotmail.com.
