Mother’s Day: a day to celebrate the mothers in our lives, the one who gave birth to us, the one who adopted us, the one we picked to be our mother or who volunteered to step up for the role because ours was not available to us, an aunt, a grandmother, friend, or foster mother.
This blog is to thank all of the mothers, those who are caring for or cared for children with mental health and/or addiction challenges along with those who are in recovery from a substance use or mental health condition themselves. To all mothers we say thank you; we recognize and celebrate your love, devotion, tenacity, strength, and commitment to those you have raised and are raising.
The SAMHSA Office of Recovery would like to highlight some of the data we know about these mothers. The 2021 findings from SAMHSA’s National Survey of Drug Use and Health showed that of the 50.2 million American adults who considered themselves to be in recovery from substance use and/or mental health issues, 15.3 percent (or 7.7 million adults) were mothers with children under the age of 18 in the same household.
Further, we recognize that our nation’s youth are undergoing a behavioral health crisis. Among children and adolescents aged 12-17, 12.7 percent (3.3 million) seriously thought about suicide, 20.1 percent (5.0 million) reported major depressive episode, 14.1 percent (3.7 million) used illicit drugs, and 8.5 percent (2.2 million) reported a substance use disorder in the past year. Of these 8.3 million youth who experienced the aforementioned behavioral health problems in the past year, 89.3 percent (7.4 million) live with their mothers in the same household, and 48.0 percent (4.0 million) felt that they could turn to their mother, father, or guardian if they wanted to talk to someone about a serious problem.
Mothers are often the main caregivers and are vital in supporting the recovery and well-being of their children. SAMHSA stands with you and supports you in being outstanding caregivers. For SAMHSA information and resources, see Parent and Caregiver Resources. SAMHSA’s National Family Support Technical Assistance Center is also available to help.
For all of the moms each of us call our own, we say thank you for your love and support in this journey of recovery!