A survey reveals that nine in ten adults think there is a mental health crisis in the United States, with young adults reporting the most concerns.
According to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and CNN, most people said the opioid epidemic, mental health issues in children and teenagers, and severe mental illness are “at a crisis level” in the country.
The Mental Health in America survey found that young adults aged 18-29 reported the most concerns about their mental health. For example, half of them said they have felt anxious “always” or “often” in the past year, compared to a third of adults overall.
Moreover, four in ten young adults said a doctor or other health care professional has told them that they have a mental health condition such as depression or anxiety.
Nearly half (47%) of young adults said there was a time in the past 12 months when they thought they might need mental health services or medication but did not get them. The cost was the most often reported reason for not seeking help.
In the summer, the three-digit 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline was launched in the US. However, the KFF/CNN survey found that one month after launching, most adults (56%) said they had heard “nothing at all” about the new hotline.
The number and the rate of suicides in the US increased by 4% from 2020 to 2021, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is an increase after two consecutive years of decline in 2019 and 2020, but the number is still lower than the all-time high in 2018.
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