People who struggle with mental illness face a very difficult situation. We all understand that when we are ill, it’s nearly impossible to get up and out there into the world and to simply function. However, when we think about being ill, we tend to visualize having a fever, a cough or some other physical symptom or symptoms. Mental illness is just as debilitating for a lot of people, and unfortunately, the state of Arkansas mental health is such that too many people are struggling, and too many people are not getting the treatment that they so badly need. That needs to change.

SoCal Empowered is a residential mental health treatment provider that has worked with people from all over the world for several years. We have helped countless people get a handle on terribly difficult conditions such as the schizophrenia spectrum, bipolar disorder, dissociative disorders and many others. We may not be physically located in Arkansas, but we do have facilities in Orange County, California and in Idaho Falls, Idaho. If you or a loved one is looking for some type of Arkansas mental health treatment, we encourage you to take a look at the data below, as it’ll help you realize that you are not alone. We hope you’ll take that all-important first step towards improving your situation soon.

Arkansas Mental Health Statistics

The National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, is an organization that provides mountains of extremely important data relating to mental health across the United States. One of its annual reports delves into statistics on a state level, and its most recent publication revealed that the state of Arkansas mental health is anything but positive. Take a look at just a handful of data points below to see what we mean:

1. 457,000 adults in Arkansas have some sort of mental health condition at any given time.
2. 125,000 Arkansas adults suffer from what is known as a “serious” mental illness, or a condition that directly interferes with someone’s ability to function on a day-day basis.
3. 106,000 adults endured suicidal ideation in the year prior to this survey. Suicidal ideation is the experience of contemplating suicide.
4. 145,000 adults in Arkansas did not obtain needed mental health treatment in the year prior to this survey.
5. 1,426,349 people in Arkansas live in a community that does not have enough mental health professionals.

That last number is startling. That’s because there are just over 3 million people overall who call Arkansas home. That means that approximately half of all people in the state live in a community that’s underserved by mental health professionals. Treatment is simply not available for countless people who may otherwise obtain it.

A Statistical Perspective

When we look at numbers relating to Arkansas mental health, it’s easy to just see them as raw numbers and to not put them into everyday perspective. Therefore, below you’ll find the 10 largest cities in Arkansas in descending order of population. This may help people see just how big of a problem mental illness is in the state.

1. Little Rock – 203,842
2. Fayetteville – 101,680
3. Fort Smith – 89,770
4. Springdale – 88,224
5. Jonesboro – 80,650
6. Rogers – 74,035
7. Conway – 69,580
8. North Little Rock – 64,531
9. Bentonville – 59,471
10. Pine Bluff – 39,123

Comparing the two data sets above leads to troubling results. For instance, if all of the adults in Arkansas with a mental illness moved into one community, that city would immediately become the largest in the state. In fact, it would be larger than the populations of the three largest cities in Arkansas combined.

Further, if the adults in Arkansas with a serious mental illness moved into one community, that city would immediately become the second largest in the state. Finally, the number of people in Arkansas who live in communities underserved by mental health professionals is larger than the populations of all 10 of the largest cities combined.

The state of Arkansas mental health is troubling to say the least.

Arkansas Mental Health Broken Down By Regions

Mental illness does not discriminate. It does not care about your race, age, religion, political beliefs, socioeconomic status or where you live. However, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) published a study not too long ago that broke down Arkansas mental health challenges – along with those from other states – by regions within the states. It did so by analyzing the number of inpatient mental health stays at facilities and their corresponding diagnoses.

The diagnoses included:

1. Depressive disorders
2. Schizophrenia spectrum
3. Bipolar disorders
4. Suicidal attempts/intentional self-harm
5. Trauma/stressor-related disorders

You can find that study here. The research uncovered certain mental illness “hot spots” in Arkansas that included:

1. The northeastern part of the state, home to Jonesboro, was a hotspot for all five of the diagnoses listed above.
2. Southeastern Arkansas, including Pine Bluff, was a hotspot for the schizophrenia spectrum.
3. Central Arkansas, including Little Rock, was a hotspot for schizophrenia, suicidal attempts, intentional self-harm, and trauma/stressor-related disorders.
4. Northwestern Arkansas, including Fayetteville, was a hotspot for suicide attempts.
5. Southwestern Arkansas was a hotspot for trauma/stressor-related disorders

A “hotspot” as defined by this study is a place where the rate of a diagnosis is higher than at least 80 percent of the rest of the United States.

How SoCal Empowered Can Help

People in Arkansas are struggling with mental illness in high numbers. If you or a loved one is searching for Arkansas mental health treatment, we invite you to consider getting away from it all for a bit to recharge and refocus on yourself. We are in-network with several national and regional insurance carriers, including Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield. We also accept several other insurance policies on an out-of-network basis.

All you need to do to get things moving is contact us. We will listen to your situation before we do anything else. If we feel there’s a potential fit, we will deal directly with your insurance company for you. If we don’t think there’s a fit, we will help you find the right resource. You just need to contact us, though, as doing that costs you nothing and obligates you to nothing.

It’s time to take back control of your life and to reestablish the health and happiness we all deserve. Contact us today.