Mental Health America Report Links States’ Depression
Status to Access to Care
First-ever report ranks states by depression status and
calls for mental health monitoring system
Mental Health America is calling for policy change with the release of
its new report, "Ranking America's Mental Health: An Analysis of Depression
Across the States," which for the first time links each state's mental
health status and suicide rates to the ability of its residents to access
care.
In general, states that offer more access to mental health services have
lower rates of depression and suicide than states with more limited access
to care.
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Mental Health America created two
different rankings of the states: one showing the state rankings
on depression and one on suicide rates. The depression rankings
were based on the percent of adolescents and adults with depression,
the percent of adults with serious psychological distress and
reported “bad” mental health days. The data come from scientifically
rigorous, nationally representative surveys funded by the United
States government. Suicide rates are age adjusted and obtained
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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The study ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia
based on rates of depression and suicide using national data
(see chart below).
"The take-home message from this study is that access to care
makes a difference," said Dr. David Shern, Ph.D., president
and CEO of Mental Health America, at a Nov. 28 press briefing
at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. "One of
our goals with this report is to close the gap between science
and availability of services."
Despite significant improvements in depression treatments
and their availability in the past decade, the level of unmet
needs remains dangerously high, said Dr. Reef Karim,
attending psychiatrist and addiction specialist at the UCLA
Neuropsychiatric Institute, at the briefing.
On average, people living with depression go for nearly a
decade before receiving treatment, and less than one-third of people who do seek help receive adequate care. The answer
he said, is to provide affordable access to care as well as early
intervention.
Shern added that "while a number of factors including biology
and environment impact an individual's mental health, this
study shows that states can significantly improve their populations'
mental health status by adopting policies that expand
access to mental health treatments."
In "Ranking America's Mental Health," Mental Health
America found statistically significant associations between
the following factors and better depression status and lower
suicide rates:
Mental health resources: On average, the higher the number
of psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers per
capita in a state, the lower the suicide rate. Barriers to treatment: The lower the percentage of the
population reporting that they could not obtain health care
because of costs, the lower the suicide rate and the better the
state’s depression status. In addition, the lower the percentage
of the population that reported unmet mental health care
needs, the better the state’s depression status. Mental health treatment utilization: Holding the baseline
level of depression in the state constant, the higher the number
of antidepressant prescriptions per capita in the state, the
lower the suicide rate. Socioeconomic Characteristics: The more educated the
population and the greater the percentage with health insurance,
the lower the suicide rate. The more educated the population,
the better the state's depression status.
 In addition, the report found the following factor to be significantly associated with the level
of mental health service utilization in a state:
Shern called for a mental health "surveillance system" that will monitor Americans mental
health status and state policies that affect their care. "Through regular and ongoing measurement
of key indicators of depression, we will be able to understand how state public policies
impact a population's depression level and suicide rate—and make adjustments to benefit the
millions of American affected by depression," he said.
"Despite the fact that some states do better than others on rates of depression and suicide, no
state can be satisfied with its current status," continued Shern. "These rates can be driven lower by encouraging state policies designed to improve coverage,
end discriminatory practices in insurance, and assure that
qualified mental health professionals are available to serve
everyone in need."
The top 10 "least depressed" states are 1) South Dakota, 2)
Hawaii, 3) New Jersey, 4) Iowa, 5) Maryland, 6) Minnesota,
7) Louisiana, 8) Illinois, 9) North Dakota and 10) Texas. The
bottom 10 "most depressed" states are 42) Wyoming, 43) Ohio,
44) Missouri, 45) Idaho, 46) Oklahoma, 47) Nevada, 48) Rhode
Island, 49) Kentucky, 50) West Virginia and 51) Utah.
To read the Executive Summary and view the full Report, visit
www.mentalhealthamerica.net.
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(1) Spur the development of a public
health surveillance system to monitor the mental health of
Americans, and
(2) Stimulate action by communities,
public health professionals, federal and state policy makers,
and others to help increase access to care in order to drive
down rates of depression and suicide in their populations.
"Ranking the
States: An Analysis of Depression Across the States" was
researched and written by Mental Health America and Thomson
Healthcare. It looks at data from 2002-2006 and was conducted
from July to November 2007. The report compares depression
levels and suicide rates in all 50 states and the District
of Columbia, and uses the information to highlight solutions
to improve states’ mental health status.
To read the Executive Summary and
view the full Report, visit www.mentalhealthamerica.net.
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The e-Bell Newsletter is published by the Mental Health America, which
works with its 320 affiliates nationwide to promote health, prevent mental
disorders and achieve victory over illnesses through advocacy, education, research
and service. To receive the e-Bell, visit Mental
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