This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Young adults with mental illness less likely to receive mental health care
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Recent findings suggest that approximately two-thirds of young adults with any mental illness do not receive necessary mental health care.
“It is essential that we do everything possible to encourage young adults with troubling psychological problems to seek help when needed and to provide them appropriate services as well as ensure access to them,” Paolo del Vecchio, MSW, director of SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services, said in a press release. “We need to show people, especially young people, that help is now even more available, treatment works, and people do recover.”
Paolo del Vecchio
To assess mental health service utilization, researchers analyzed data from the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Analysis indicated that among adults with any mental illness, young adults aged 18 to 25 years are less likely to receive mental health services (33.6%) than adults aged 26 to 49 years (44.2%) or adults aged 50 years and older (49.9%).
In 2014, 2.4 million (33.6%) of young adults with any mental illness received mental health services such as inpatient services, outpatient services or prescription medication in the past year. This indicates that 66.4% of young adults with any mental illness did not receive potentially needed mental health services.
Among young adults with any mental illness, 25.5% received prescription medication, 21.3% received outpatient services and 3.7% received inpatient services.
“Because young adults with [any mental illness] are less likely to receive services than adults in other age groups, young adults may benefit from developmentally appropriate services to facilitate the transition to adulthood. Young adults with [any mental illness] may want to talk to a mental health care professional to find out what type of services would best meet their needs,” the researchers concluded. – by Amanda Oldt
Disclosure: Please see the full study for a list of all authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
Reference:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. CBHSQ report: One-third of young adults with any mental illness received mental health services in the past year. Available at: http://www.samhsa.gov/data. Accessed July 18, 2016.