America's Mental Health, State By State

Nearly 20 percent of Americans -- 44.5 million adults -- experienced some sort of mental illness over the last year, according to a new report from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Agency (SAMHSA).

The report details state by state the percent of the population who has suffered a mental illness.

“Mental illnesses are treatable and people can recover to live full, productive lives. Unfortunately in the past year only 37.9 percent of adults with mental health problems received any type of care,” SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde said in a statement. “The chasm between need and care is costly both in terms of personal health because of missed opportunities to prevent disability and health care expenditures related to illness such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity.”

The report counts "mental illness" as any sort of mental, behavioral or emotional disorder that is diagnosable from the DSM-IV. The disorder must cause "substantial functional impairment" or must be defined as a serious mental illness that requires treatment.

Click through the slideshow to see, from lowest to highest, how many people in each state experienced a mental illness (according to 2008 and 2009 data that included 68,936 adults).

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Comments

[GuiltFreeNoRemorse]

02:54 PM on 10/13/2011

Americans gobble more psychotropic drugs than any nation on earth.

Big Pharma loves it.

[timlahrman]

02:54 PM on 10/13/2011

the term "mental illness" is not a medical term, it is a legal term and to catagorize someone as being mentally ill -- unless he or she has been adjudicate­d such by a court of competent jurisdicti­on, is slanderous and a defamation of character.

The term is grossly over-used, misused and sadly misunderst­ood.

Reporting of this narture is pure psycho-babble and an infomercial to mainstream mis-using and mis-identifying people among us.

[GuiltFreeNoRemorse]

02:53 PM on 10/13/2011

Support Mental Health or I will kill you.

[meinAz]

02:51 PM on 10/13/2011

a 52 slide slideshow? Who has that kind of time? The link provided shows a single map which has all this information on one graph. Getting pretty greedy for the ad dollars, Huffpo.

[parlimentMike]

02:50 PM on 10/13/2011

I'd say this has a very low news one can use quotient per column inch. Some of the photo's were quite nice, however.

[ritrdoc]

02:49 PM on 10/13/2011

Beyond the fears of employment, keeping one's home, affording college etc, I think of the past, my parents and grandparents, will the crops come in, will the kids live past five, will a cut become infected. I wonder if "natural" concerns have been classifed to the extreme and defined as mental issues. Do we really expect to be 100% happy, have no fears of the future and if we aren't it's an illness?

[JustinP213]

02:44 PM on 10/13/2011

NJ 45. Nice.

[zanzy]

02:43 PM on 10/13/2011

These are reported cases from people who got a diagnosis. Mental health problems are much higher, since high stigma, lack of access, and expense, most do not seek out care.

Read the posts here and you can see how many people have distorted thinking, irrational thoughts and paranoid thoughts. Unfortuantely, the republican party is preying on these people.

[bluesteel92]

02:39 PM on 10/13/2011

This ranking would seem to be flawed by the fact that if people dont report it, ten there's no way to get an accurate percentage. Also, is there any explaination as to what causes these illnesses? The list is all over the place, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason based on region.

[NunuDudu]

02:38 PM on 10/13/2011

Utah is 24% crazy? Makes sense.

[LSULinebacker64]

02:37 PM on 10/13/2011

I'm happy with where LOUISIANA is placed at..... LOUISIANA is at #28..... They're not at the highest or the lowest spots..... You can say they are in the center if you have an understanding on how I'm speaking..... Place 50 half of 50 is 25..... Ok 28 of 50..... I concider it in the center......

[peachfuzz]

02:36 PM on 10/13/2011

It looks like the numbers are for "serious" mental illness causing disability, not the very common types of mild depression/anxiety and needs for counseling & problem-solving that most people have. These numbers do not represent the vast majority of functioning people on medications who can still work, etc. Not really sure why this study is relevant or interesting.

[blcayce]

02:35 PM on 10/13/2011

I feel sorry for anyone who has to be treated in house for mental health disorders. You are treated like a criminal. It is unforgivable the way the interns will treat people.
Twice over my 60 + years I voluntarily sought help. I did not cause problems, I simply could not fall asleep. A few years after the last time it was "discovered" that I had sleep apnea for years AND a deadly virus. My mental health (burnt out) Physchiatrist said he was changing my diagnosis to situational anxiety........both my living sons were in Iraq.
They hurt me in a way that I will never forget.

[Razorsharp1234]

02:31 PM on 10/13/2011

The current mental state of our Nation is just horrible. No wonder we are all going heywire. We see it everyday on TV from our own leaders, after all they are our role models.

[blcayce]

02:52 PM on 10/13/2011

Do you think that maybe the fact that as children we are taught to love and respect others, that ours is a loving a comforting country. Then as the kids grow just the opposite of what we were taught.
The first time I stood inside the building at Ellis Island and read Th "Give us your tired, your etc. tears watered my eyes. Next stop Statue of Liberty, wow, this is what my country stands for..........sooo many years later the reality sets in.
Where oh where has the American spirit gone ?

[QuantProgrammer]

02:30 PM on 10/13/2011

Why do Rhode Island and the other northeastern liberal states rank near the top?

[greenie 61]

02:33 PM on 10/13/2011

You'd better check the Top 10 again.

[Eric Jeffrey]

02:49 PM on 10/13/2011

Since when are places like Utah and Idaho northeastern states.? Notice, states like New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Vermont, New York, and Connecticut all finished in the top (lower incidence) half.