Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

CMHS Consumer Affairs E-News
November 2, 2006, Vol. 06-109

New SAMHSA Report on Mental Health Services Use and Barriers

SAMHSA's Office of Applied Studies (OAS) has just released the following short report on the web, based on SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use & Health (NSDUH). It presents data for adults age 18 or older on (1) their receipt of treatment for mental health problems, (2) their perceived unmet need for treatment for such problems, and (3) the reasons for not receiving treatment for mental health problems among those with an unmet need for treatment.

Highlights:

SAMHSA's National Surveys on Drug Use and Health in 2003 through 2005 were combined to assess the receipt of treatment for mental health problems, the perceived unmet need for such treatment, and the reasons for not receiving treatment for mental health problems among those with an unmet need for treatment.

Among adults aged 18 or older, 13% (27.9 million persons) received treatment or counseling for mental health problems in the past 12 months.

About 5.1% of all adults and 19.2% of adults who received treatment for mental health problems in the past year perceived an unmet need for treatment or counseling for mental health problems in the past year.

As noted below, of those adults who perceived an unmet need for treatment for mental health problems in the past year, 48.1% reported cost or insurance issues as a barrier to treatment receipt.

Reasons for Not Getting Treatment or Counseling* for Mental Health Problems in the Past Year among Adults Aged 18 or Older Who Perceived an Unmet Need for Treatment for Mental Health Problems: 2003, 2004, and 2005

Cost/Insurance**     48.1

Did Not Feel Need for Treatment/Could Handle Problem without Treatment***     36.4

Stigma**     22.7

Did Not Know Where to Go For Services     18.4

Limited Resources**     17.2

Fear of Being Committed/Have to Take Medicine     7.9

Some Other Reason     7.8

The NSDUH Report: Service Utilization for Mental Health Problems among Adults at: http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k6/mhTX/mhTX.cfm.

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The Center for Mental Health Services is a component of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, United States Department of Health and Human Services.