Nearly a quarter of the U.S. adult population received mental health treatment in 2023.
That’s according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s new 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) report.
“Each year, data from the annual NSDUH provides an opportunity to identify and address unmet healthcare needs across America,” Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, HHS assistant secretary for mental health and substance use and the leader of SAMHSA, said in a statement. “We’re pleased to see that more people received mental health treatment in 2023 than the previous year.”
The report found that of the 58.7 million adults with any mental illness (AMI), about 54% received mental health services in the last year. Utilization rates were higher among adults with a serious mental illness (SMI). Of the 14.6 million adults with SMI, roughly 71% received mental health treatment in the past year.
Sukinah_1407 on pixabay.comStill, the survey identified disparities in mental health service utilization across age groups and ethnic backgrounds.
Young adults aged 18 to 25 were the most likely age group to receive mental health care, with 27.4% reporting accessing services, and older adults over 50 were the least likely to access care.
Telehealth remains a popular modality for accessing behavioral health services. In fact, 12.1% of adults in the U.S. reported accessing mental health care via telehealth. The modality was particularly popular among individuals under the age of 50.
“In 2023, adults aged 50 or older also were less likely than adults in other age groups to have received mental health treatment via telehealth, to have received outpatient mental
health treatment, or to have taken prescription medication for their mental health,” the report said.
The report also found disparities between ethnic groups accessing behavioral health services. Specifically, Asian and Black adults were less likely to access mental health care in the past year than White, Multiracial or, American Indian or Alaska Native adults.
The report also found that multiracial adults were more likely than most other racial or ethnic groups to have any mental illness, serious mental illness and serious thoughts of suicide.
