'THE STATE OF MENTAL HEALTH IN AMERICA' STUDY REVEALS SURPRISING STATS: WHAT ILLINOIS IS IMPLEMENTIN

Mental illness goes untreated in over half of U.S. adults – 27 million – and the number of people seriously thinking of suicide rose by 664,000 people over last year. These were just two findings of the 2022 report, “The State of Mental Health in America.”

Released October 24 by the nonprofit Mental Health America (MHA), the annual study uses data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Department of Education (DoE).

Other key findings include:

• 19.86% of adults experienced a mental illness, equivalent to nearly 50 million Americans in 2019, just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• 4.58% of U.S. adults had serious thoughts of suicide, an increase of 664,000 over last year. The national rate of suicidal ideation among adults has risen every year since 2011-12.

• 10.6% of U.S. youth (over 2.5 million) have severe depression. The rate was highest among youth who identified as more than one race (14.5% or 1 in 7).

• 11% of Americans with mental illness are uninsured.

• 7.74% of U.S. adults and 4.08% of U.S. youth had a substance use disorder in the past year.

MHA says the statistics support its spotlight on two priorities for 2021- 22: 1) implementation of 988 as the national three-digit suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline, and 2) increased mental health education and supports in schools, especially for youth of color.

The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act was passed by Congress in September 2020, signed by President Biden on Oct. 17, 2020, and slated to take effect in one year. There are 129 suicides each day in the United States, the legislation noted, and prevention meant the cumbersome, 10-digit phone number had to go.

OVERALL RANKINGS

An overall ranking 1-13 indicates lower prevalence of mental illness and higher rates of access to care. An overall ranking 39-51 indicates higher prevalence of mental illness and lower rates of access to care. The combined scores of all 15 measures make up the overall ranking. The overall ranking includes both adult and youth measures as well as prevalence and access to care measures.

The chart is a visual representation of the sum of the scores for each state. It provides an opportunity to see the difference between ranked states. For example, Massachusetts (ranked one) has a score that is higher than Illinois (ranked 12). Virginia (ranked 20) has a score that is closest to the average.

The Illinois Department of Human Services/ Division of Mental Health (IDHS/DMH) began working with six Lifeline call centers in the state for rollout this past July.

When fully operational, the 988 crisis call hubs will operate like air traffic controllers, providing a variety of support across the nation, according to “The Promise of 988” video by crisisnow.com on the IDHS/DMH website. Instead of law enforcement, the 988 call hubs will dispatch mobile crisis outreach teams available 24/7. The mobile crisis teams will take people to short-term crisis receiving centers for assessment, rather than hospital emergency rooms.

The expectation is fewer arrests – and shootings – according to the video. Callers will go from “point of crisis to the level of care that is right for them….Mental health will move out of the shadows into the mainstream.”

The American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) provides an 85 percent federal match under Medicaid for three years to cover mobile crisis intervention services, according to a report by the Brookings Institution.

The Illinois General Assembly passed its own 988 supplement, effective July 1. Schools that issue identification cards for youth in grades 6 to 12 must also include the 988 number, the Crisis Text Line, the Safe2Help Illinois line or a local suicide prevention hotline on the ID. If the school custom-prints a handbook or planner, the hotline numbers must be included.

ADULT RANKINGS

States that are ranked 1-13 have a lower prevalence of mental illness and higher rates of access to care for adults. States that are ranked 39-51 indicate that adults have a higher prevalence of mental illness and lower rates of access to care.

Rates of childhood mental health concerns and suicide rose steadily between 2010 and 2020, to the point where suicide was the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-24, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American

Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA). NAMI Chicago provided this information.

“The pandemic has intensified this crisis: across the country, we have witnessed dramatic increases in Emergency Department visits for all mental health emergencies, including suspected suicide attempts,” the AAP, AACAP and CHA noted in a joint National State of Emergency in Children’s Mental Health.

“They pandemic has struck at the safety and stability of families,” according to the three organizations. “More than 140,000 children in the United States lost a primary and/or secondary caregiver, with youth of color disproportionately impacted. We are caring for young people with soaring rates of depression, anxiety, trauma, loneliness and suicidality that will have lasting impacts on them, their families, and their communities.”

Policies recommended by AAP, AACAP and CHA to end the National State of Emergency included federal funding for mental health screening, diagnosis and treatment for infants through adolescents; improved technology to bring telemedicine to more populations; and more school-based mental health care.

Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, meanwhile, issued a report last April that said 70,000 toddlers and children were showing symptoms of possible detrimental mental or behavioral health, such as tantrums, nightmares or clinginess. Survey data was collected between November 2020 and February 2021 from 1,505 Chicago parents in all 77 community areas, weighted to be representative of households with children across the city.

What we know so far, however, about the effects of the pandemic on children’s mental health, is that the worst impacts were concentrated in uniquely vulnerable populations: low-income kids, BIPOC kids, LGBTQ+ kids, kids with unstable home lives or with mental health disorders like anxiety, depression or ADHD, according to the Child Mind Institute’s 2021 Children’s Mental Health report, provided by NAMI Chicago.

YOUTH RANKINGS

States that are ranked 1-13 have a lower prevalence of mental illness and higher rates of access to care for adults. States that are ranked 39-51 indicate that youth have a higher prevalence of mental illness and lower rates of access to care.

The Child Mind Institute pointed to a growing body of research that showed that the stress experienced early in the pandemic has evened out over time. Still, kids who had a preexisting mental health disorder (including but not limited to depression, anxiety, or ADHD), or who had experienced previous trauma, food insecurity, economic vulnerability or disproportionate disruption to their schedules, were at greater risk for psychological distress.

Building resilience in these kids would come from giving families resources to help their kids; providing teacher training, and offering direct clinical care, said Harold S. Koplewicz, MD, president and founder of the Child Mind Institute, in his foreword to the report.

NAMI Chicago noted various efforts in Illinois to increase mental health services for children. The caveat is that the plans will take time to roll out amid workforce shortages.

The Illinois Children’s Mental Health Partnership hosted a webinar June 29 to create a new plan in 2022 for prevention, early intervention and services up to age 18. The Partnership was created by the Illinois General

Assembly in 2003 to build an interdisciplinary system across Illinois government that looks not only at mental health treatment, but at education, child welfare and the juvenile justice system. Next year’s report will be the first since its 2005 report was updated in 2012.

Next March, Illinois will also launch the “Pathways to Success Program,” which will provide high-intensity mental health services to children up to age 21 who have complex needs and who are on Medicaid. The program is part of a consent decree in a federal lawsuit filed in Chicago in 2011 and approved in 2018. In Cook County, the program won't launch until at least May 2022.

The Chicago City Council also agreed October 27 to expand mental health services to children and youth at all five city clinics.

The Mental Health America study corellates mental illness prevalence among adults and youth with access to care.

Illinois had the 16th lowest numbers for mental illness prevalence. When access to care was measured, it was 12th best overall. Last year, Illinois was 22nd overall.

Illinois had the best change in Youth Ranking – from 36th to 12th – since last year. In Illinois, the percentage of youth with severe Major Depressive Episodes (MDE) who received some consistent treatment increased from 25% to 38.3%. The percentage of Illinois youth with MDE who did not receive mental health services decreased from 62.1% to 55.2%.

by Suzanne Hanney charts taken from "2022 State of Mental Health in America"