Ten Facts on Mental Health
- Around 20% of the world's children and adolescents are estimated to have mental disorders or problems, with similar types of disorders being reported across cultures.
- Girls aged 13 to 17-years-old are more than two and a half times as likely to suffer from an eating disorder compared to boys their age.
- Mental health dollars mostly go toward prescription drugs and outpatient treatment.
- About 2.4 million Americans, or 1.1 percent of the adult population, lives with schizophrenia.
- Suicide is the eleventh-leading cause of death in the Unites States and the third-leading cause of death for people ages 10-24 years. More than 90 percent of those who die by suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder.
- Depression is ranked as the leading cause of disability worldwide.
- States cut $1.8 billion from their mental health budgets during the recession.
- Mental disorders contribute to unintentional and intentional injury.
- Human rights violations of psychiatric patients are routinely reported in most countries. These include physical restraint, seclusion and denial of basic needs and privacy. Few countries have a legal framework that adequately protects the rights of people with mental disorders.
- Between 20% and 40% of adolescents with major depression develop bipolar disorder within five years after depression onset.
