September 21, 2022
Nearly one in four American adults ages 18 to 44 have received mental health treatment in the past 12 months, a significant increase from previous years. In 2019, 19% of the same demographic received mental health care; that percentage rose to 23% in 2021, according to the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 2019–2021.1 The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) released the survey.
By comparison, a recent ADDitude survey found that nearly three-quarters (72%) of readers ages 18-44 received mental health treatment in the last two or three years. Of those surveyed, more than a third (36%) sought or received mental health care for the first time during the pandemic, and 73% said they are currently receiving mental health treatment.
The NHIS survey defined “receiving mental health care” as receiving counseling or therapy or taking prescription medication for anxiety, depression, concentration, behavior or other emotions in the past 12 months. The ADDitude survey did not explicitly define mental health care and asked respondents to report on their experiences over the past two to three years.
The NHIS survey found that women aged 18 to 44 were more likely than men to have received any mental health treatment. In 2021, the survey found that more than one in four women (29%) received mental health care compared to less than one in five men (18%). Likewise, 73.19% of the women surveyed by ADDitude said that they are currently receive mental health carecompared to 65.79% of the men surveyed.
Young white American adults received the most mental health care in 2021 (30%), according to the CDC. Rates were much lower among young black adults (15%), Hispanics (13%), and Asians (11%). Despite reporting the lowest rate of mental health care, Asians experienced one of the largest increases in treatment between 2019 and 2021 (from 6% to 11%), the NHIS survey found.
More than half of ADDitude respondents (60%) said they found it difficult or very difficult safe mental health careincluding receiving an evaluation, diagnosis, and/or treatment. The top five reported barriers to mental health care include the following:
- 64%: time (for example, long waiting lists)
- 61%: scheduling and appointments
- 60%: cost
- 45%: safe
- 44%: Accessibility (eg, no local providers)
Most ADDitude readers who received mental health treatments and interventions medication used (85%). More than half said they use vitamins or supplements (62%), individual therapy (58%), exercise (54%), or mindfulness (51%) to treat mental health issues.
Full attention it was rated useful to very useful by about 84% of the people who used it. Seventy percent of respondents reported that medication and exercise were very helpful or helpful, and approximately 60% said that individual therapy was very helpful or helpful. Less than half (40%) found vitamins or supplements to be very helpful or helpful.
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1Terlizzi EP, Schiller JS.(2022). Mental Health Treatment Among Adults Aged 18 to 44: United States, 2019 to 2021. NCHS Data Brief, No. 444. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc:120293
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