The State of Mental Health in America – National Mental Health Rankings

There are innumerable non-profit organizations around the United States doing yeoman’s work advancing the cause of national mental health awareness and treatment in countless ways. One of the oldest and most established groups is known as Mental Health America, or MHA, which was founded in 1909, which was back when Sigmund Freud was studying psychology. MHA is community-based, so its work is grounded in the grassroots of cities large and small all across the country.

Every year, MHA publishes an extremely detailed report relating to the state of national mental health known as The State of Mental Health in America. They recently released the 2023 version, and it contains a plethora of statistical facts. Their measurements are broken down by state, and the team at SoCal Empowered is going to delve into some of the more interesting national mental health rankings below.

National Mental Health Rankings – Variables Measured

MHA defined 15 variables they used to come to percentages in each state and the District of Columbia. These variables were then weighted to account for states of differing populations, and from there the respective national mental health rankings were compiled. For 2023, the MHA used the following 15 criteria:

1. Adults with Any Mental Illness (AMI)
2. Adults with Substance Use Disorder in the Past Year
3. Adults with Serious Thoughts of Suicide
4. Youth with at Least One Major Depressive Episode (MDE) in the Past Year
5. Youth with Substance Use Disorder in the Past Year
6. Youth with Severe MDE
7. Adults with AMI Who Did Not Receive Treatment
8. Adults with AMI Reporting Unmet Need
9. Adults with AMI Who Are Uninsured
10. Adults Reporting 14+ Mentally Unhealthy Days a Month Who Could Not See a Doctor Due to Costs
11. Youth with MDE Who Did Not Receive Mental Health Services
12. Youth with Severe MDE Who Received Some Consistent Treatment
13. Youth with Private Insurance That Did Not Cover Mental or Emotional Problems
14. Students Identified with Emotional Disturbance for an Individualized Education Program
15. Mental Health Workforce Availability

Key National Mental Health Findings

Before getting into specific rankings for different measurements, MHA compiled data on a national, macro level that provided some insight into the current state of national mental health. In short, there were some troubling findings. See below:

1. Over 50 million Americans are experiencing some type of mental illness.
2. 15 percent of adults suffered through a substance abuse disorder during the previous year.
3. Over 93 percent of those who had substance abuse problems did not receive treatment.
4. Over 12 million adults – or 4.8 percent of the adult population – reported having thoughts of suicide.
5. 11 percent of adults identifying with two or more races reported having suicidal thoughts.
6. 55 percent of adults with mental illness do not receive treatment for it.
7. There are 350 people in the United States for every mental health provider.
8. 28 percent of adults did not receive the mental health treatment they needed.
9. Most who did not get treatment cited cost as the main barrier.
10. 23 percent of adults reporting 14 days or more of poor mental health per month were unable to see a doctor because of costs.

Overall National Mental Health Rankings

Based on the criteria laid out above, the following states were the five best in terms of overall state of mental health in the survey:

1. Wisconsin
2. Pennsylvania
3. Massachusetts
4. Delaware
5. Connecticut

The five states with the lowest rankings, from 47 – 51, were as follows:

47. Idaho
48. Alabama
49. Arizona
50. Oregon
51. Kansas

National Mental Health Rankings For Adults

The national mental health rankings for adults used a reduced number of criteria. These included:

1. Adults with Any Mental Illness (AMI)
2. Adults with Substance Use Disorder in the Past Year
3. Adults with Serious Thoughts of Suicide
4. Adults with AMI Who Did Not Receive Treatment
5. Adults with AMI Reporting Unmet Need
6. Adults with AMI Who Are Uninsured
7. Adults Reporting 14+ Mentally Unhealthy Days a Month Who Could Not See  a Doctor Due to Costs

Based on these criteria, the five highest-ranking states were:

1. Kentucky
2. Hawaii
3. New York
4. Pennsylvania
5. Wisconsin

The five lowest-ranking states were:

47. Alabama
48. Oregon
49. Arizona
50. Wyoming
51. Kansas

Prevalence of Mental Illness in States

Once again, MHA used slightly different criteria to determine the rankings for states based on the prevalence of mental illness experienced by residents. These criteria include:

1. Adults with Any Mental Illness (AMI)
2. Adult with Substance Use Disorder in the Past Year
3. Adults with Serious Thoughts of Suicide
4. Youth with at Least One Major Depressive Episode (MDE) in the Past Year
5. Youth with Substance Use Disorder in the Past Year
6. Youth with Severe MDE

The five highest ranking states – meaning those with the lowest prevalence of mental illness were:

1. Georgia
2. South Carolina
3. Texas
4. New Jersey
5. North Carolina

The lowest-ranking states included:

47. South Dakota
48. Idaho
49. Montana
50. Kansas
51. Oregon

What It All Means – How SoCal Empowered Can Help

While there is no hard-and-fast pattern to be found here, what does seem clear is that the states that consistently finished in both the top and bottom of the rankings were at or near the best and worst five for multiple categories. What this also means, when looking at the different states listed, is that there is no real geographic “hot spot” when it comes to national mental health concerns or analysis. These problems can arise anywhere and with anyone.

If you find yourself or someone you love suffering from mental health challenges, please feel free to contact the team of Orange County mental health professionals at SoCal Empowered today. We can help direct you to the proper resource, whether that’s us or someone else.