Prevalence of Mental Illness

According to NAMI (2019 data):

  • 1 in 5 adults—43.8 million or 18.5%—experiences mental illness in a given year
  • Among the 20.2 million adults who experienced a substance use condition, 50.5% (10.2 million adults) had a co-occurring mental illness
  • 1 in 5 youth aged 13-18 (21.4%) experiences a severe mental health condition at some point during their life; for children aged 8-15 that estimate is 13%
  • 46% of homeless adults staying in shelters have a mental illness and/or substance use disorder
  • 20% of state prisoners and 21% of local jail prisoners have a recent history of a mental health condition
  • 70% of youth in juvenile justice systems have at least one mental health condition
  • 60% of all adults and almost 50% of all youth ages 8-15 with a mental illness received no mental health services in the previous year
  • African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans used mental health services at about half the rate of Caucasian-Americans and Asian Americans at about 1/3 the rate 50% of adults with mental illness report experiencing symptoms prior to the age of 14; 75% prior to the age of 24