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CNN

“It’s life or death”: adolescent mental health in crisis

An overwhelming majority of people in the United States believe the country is experiencing a mental health crisis, according to a new CNN poll in partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Nine in 10 adults said they believe there is a mental health crisis in the United States today. Asked to rate the severity of six specific mental health concerns, Americans placed the opioid epidemic near the top, with more than two-thirds of people identifying it as a crisis rather than just a problem. More than half identified mental health problems among children and adolescents as a crisis, as well as severe mental illness in adults.

The survey captured the perceptions of a nationally representative sample of about 2,000 adults over the summer — 2½ years into the Covid-19 pandemic and amid ongoing public health threats including racism and gun violence.

The broad concern is well-founded, rooted in both personal experience and national trends.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated many social tensions that we know can increase the risk of both substance use and mental illness,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that overdose deaths reached record levels in 2021 and suicide rates returned near a record high after two years of decline. And in 2020, mental health-related visits to emergency rooms jumped 31% among teens ages 12 to 17.

According to the CNN and KFF survey, about half of adults say they have had a severe mental health crisis in their family, including personal treatment for family members who have been a threat to themselves or others, or family members who have engaged in self-harming behaviors.

More than 1 in 5 adults describe their own mental health as only “fair” or “poor,” including disproportionately large shares of adults under the age of 30, adults who identify as LGBT and those with an annual income of less than $40,000. A third of all adults said they felt anxious all the time or often in the past year, including more than half of LGBTQ adults and those under 30. About 1 in 5 adults said they were often or always depressed or lonely in the past year. , too.

Major sources of stress for a third or more of adults include personal finances and current and political events. About 1 in 4 adults also identified personal relationships and work, respectively, as major sources of stress.

According to the new survey, about 1 in 5 adults received mental health services in the past year. Earlier data released by the CDC supports that finding and shows that mental health treatment became more common during the pandemic: Nearly 22% of adults received mental health treatment in 2021, up from about 19% in 2019.

“Perhaps one of the only benefits of the pandemic and the change our country has gone through is the increase in our willingness to acknowledge and talk about when we might be struggling or need support,” said Sarah Brummett, executive director of the National Action Alliance. for Suicide Prevention.

“People are more willing to roll up their sleeves and talk about it and support people. And I think that’s progress.”

Despite increased willingness and often shared tensions among the public, most adults who have only fair or poor mental health said they did not feel comfortable talking to loved ones about it – some to maintain privacy and some to avoid the shame and stigma linked to mental. health problems

But the vast majority – more than 4 in 5 – of those surveyed say that individuals and families should play an important role in treating mental health problems in the United States, equal to the share that say the same about health care providers.

Experts say there is an opportunity to broaden perceptions of how mental health is part of overall physical health and how to respond to mental health crises.

“Not everyone is a cardiologist, but a lot of people are trained in CPR,” said Justin Baker, a psychologist and assistant professor at the Ohio State University College of Medicine. “If we just rely on the mental health force, we’re going to keep going around in circles and never really get anywhere. I think we see this as all of our problems.”

However, the groups most likely to say they need mental health care in the United States are also least likely to say they can get it.

Nearly 6 in 10 adults who say their mental health is only fair or poor say they haven’t been able to get the care they need, as do about half of adults younger than 30 and LGBTQ adults.

For those who went without help, the most common reasons cited were being too busy or unable to take time off work, being unable to pay the cost, and being afraid or embarrassed to seek care, according to the CNN and KFF survey.

In his first State of the Union address, President Joe Biden outlined a multifaceted strategy to address the nation’s mental health crisis, including goals to integrate mental health into primary care, investing in the workforce and new approaches to programs that provide care.

“Let’s get all Americans the mental health services they need, more people they can turn to for help and full equality between physical and mental health care,” he said in his address in March.

According to the survey, most Americans see these issues as serious problems. A majority, 55%, say it’s a big problem that there aren’t enough mental health providers, about three-quarters say insurers not covering mental health like they do physical health is a major concern, and 80% say the same. about the cost of mental health care.

Through the US Rescue Plan, the Biden administration has invested $5 billion in mental health and substance use programs through the US Department of Health and Human Services, with billions more proposed in future budgets.

One significant change came this summer, with the transition of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to a 3-digit phone code: 988. Early data suggests success, with calls jumping 45% in the first month compared to the same time a year ago.

But according to the new survey, there is still work to be done.

The vast majority of adults (85%) say they would be at least somewhat likely to call the hotline if they or a loved one were experiencing a mental health crisis — and it’s a good alternative to 911, which about a quarter of adults, especially Black and LGBTQ adults, say , would do more harm than good in a mental health crisis situation.

It also has potential to help Hispanic people and those who are uninsured, who are more likely than average to say they don’t know who to call if there’s a mental health crisis and wouldn’t know where to find services.

However, more than half of adults in the new poll say they have heard “nothing at all” about the new 988 service.

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