Mental illness: Surprising, disturbing findings

By Marilyn Elias
USA Today
Monday, June 6, 2005

More Americans than ever with mental disorders are trying
to get care, but only a third receive effective
treatments, says a landmark government survey out Monday.
Rates of mental illness have flattened in the past 15
years after steadily rising from the 1950s.

"That's reassuring and a little surprising, given the
economic slumps and 9/11," says survey director Ronald
Kessler of Harvard Medical School.

About one in four adults have the symptoms of at least
one mental illness every year, and nearly half suffer
disorders during their lifetimes, according to the study
of 9,282 people published in the Archives of General
Psychiatry. The study is a detailed update of large
federal surveys done in the '80s and '90s. (Related:
Report card shows most care 'not adequate')

On the positive side, 41% with a disorder went for
treatment in the past year, up from 25% a decade ago and
19% two decades ago. The more severe the disorder, the
more likely a person was to get good care.

Most people with disorders -- about four out of five --
have mild to moderate mental illness. Overall, 6% of
Americans have disorders that seriously impair their
daily lives. Younger adults are most likely to seek
prompt care, so the stigma of mental illness may be
waning, Kessler says. (Related story: Most mental illness
begins young)

But positive signs in the survey may be overshadowed by
two realities: Only about a third get effective care, and
the most serious disorders begin at a young age, often
going undetected and worsening for a decade or longer.
Half of all mental illness begins by age 14, and three-
fourths of adults have their symptoms by age 24, the
survey shows.

But research has focused on adults. Much more research on
the adolescent brain is needed, and large treatment
studies not financed by drug companies must be done, says
Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of
Mental Health, which paid for the survey.

But there's a shortage of researchers focusing on
treating children, "and most are working full time on
drug-company-funded studies," Insel says.

That only a third of adults get effective care "is pretty
disturbing," Insel says. "We've got to figure out how to
do this better. If I told you only a third of breast-
cancer patients were getting adequate care, you'd wonder,
how could that be?"

Patients got the most effective care from mental health
experts, such as psychologists and psychiatrists, the
survey shows. Yet even specialists gave adequate care to
just under half of their patients. And 52% saw medical
doctors for treatment of mental disorders, with 13%
receiving adequate care.

More at:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-06-06-mental-usat_x.htm

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