What are the mental health rates like in the United States? How many Americans struggle day to day with their own mental battles?
Research shows that as of recent the United States is experiencing a mental health crisis.
Mental health is an issue that not many people like to focus on or talk about. This can be an issue because the more that it is pushed aside as “no big deal” the worse it will get. Around 2021 22.8% of adults in the U.S. experienced mental illness with around 5.5% experiencing severe mental illness. This was before Covid-19 and after that the percentage only went up. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “Mental illnesses are common in the United States and around the world. It is estimated that more than one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness (59.3 million in 2022; 23.1% of the U.S. adult population). Mental illnesses include many different conditions that vary in degree of severity, ranging from mild to moderate to severe.” Mental health goes deeper than just anxiety or just depression. There are many more conditions that are more severe but most are only willing to scratch the surface of the topic. The reason that many people experiencing a mental health condition or illness get worse is because of the lack of energy and effort put towards advocating for mental health. A person’s mental health can affect the way that they cope with certain things and contribute to our community. It can ruin someone’s life and the fact that many don’t think it is important is upsetting.
Some people believe that mental health is not a big deal and that people are being dramatic when it comes to talking about this. This is not a valid statement because most people who say things like this have never experienced a severe mental health condition or illness. Therefore, they have no idea what they are talking about and can not have a valid opinion on the topic.
In order for this to change, there needs to be more advocating/ protesting when it comes to mental health. There are many groups that you can join like the NAMI in Mahoning Valley and ACTNow for Mental Health. They participate in protests and public stands that help to bring awareness to the severity of mental health.
Overall, there should be more light shed on the topic of mental health. Since it is not a super-talked-about-topic, many people struggle in silence. If we can bring more attention to the issue, many people can get the help that they need to get better.
