Facts about Mental Illness

THE COST OF MENTAL ILLNESS

• Billions of dollars are spent each year for mental illness care and treatment, an estimated $33.4 billion in 1983, according to a study by ADAMHA.

• Billions more go for expenses hidden in general health costs, including physical ailments from excessive stress or emotional strain, and drug costs, chiefly for tranquilizers.

• Conservative estimates place the annual loss in productive activity in industry, directly related to emotional disorders at more than $33.4 billion, the amount spent on mental illness care and treatment.

• The human anguish, desperation, isolation and fear places immeasurable costs upon the victims of mental illness.

THE OCCURRENCE OF MENTAL ILLNESS

• No one is immune to mental illness. It can strike anyone, anytime, at any age or station of life.

• The average daily population in Indiana's seven state mental hospitals and four state hospital training centers for the mentally retarded or developmentally disabled was 3,875 as of June, 1988. That average reflects 2,213 persons in mental illness hospitals and 1,663 persons in developmental disability facilities.

• Particularly vulnerable are the elderly or 12.3% of all people over 65, reported in an ADAMHA survey from November 1988 to have emotional complications. In Indiana, in the fiscal year ending June 1988, 294 elderly persons were enrolled while 90 were discharged, including 14 by death. It is generally concluded that once hospitalized, older persons have nowhere to go.

• Statistics from the Indiana Department of Mental Health say 72.8% of people admitted to state hospitals in 1988 were between the ages of 20 and 44.

• For the fiscal year ending June 1988, the total number of alcohol and drug abuse cases admitted to state hospitals was 1,212 and 1,230 were discharged.

• According to State Board of Health records, 644 deaths were classified as suicides in 1986. Of those suicides, 534 were committed by males and 110 by females. More than half were completed by persons under the age of 46.

Mental and emotional illnesses affect all ages of children from infancy through adolescence. Approximately 15 percent of the children in this country have some form of mental or emotional disturbance. This is about 8.1 million children. Of that number, a small group would be termed seriously mentally disturbed, with problems stemming from being psychotic, schizophrenic, autistic, or having severe behavioral problems. Depression among children alone counts for five to ten percent of these. In 1986, young people ages 15 to 24 made up 16.2% of the population and accounted for 18.5% of total suicides. This amounted to 5,120 suicides, or 14 per day.

In Indiana, the Mental Health Association conducted a 13 county survey to determine the mental health needs of children. A total of 10,815 cases were reported of children in need of services. This shows that the number of young people with mental health problems is consistent with the national statistics. The same is true with alcohol abuse among Hoosier teenagers, according to Indiana authorities.

Department of Mental Health figures denote that 246 youths aged 17 and under were enrolled in state hospitals, and 149 were discharged in the fiscal year ending June 1988.

PATIENT CARE

Who is getting it?

• At this moment 15 percent or 32,000,000 of all Americans have some form of mental or emotional illness needing treatment. Virtually every family is affected by the mental disorder of someone in the immediate family.

• Almost half of all Americans are without proper mental health services where they live.

Maintenance Costs

A measure of the quality of care received by patients is the amount of money hospitals spend on maintenance of each patient. Maintenance covers the salary of all personnel, treatment supplies, equipment, food, clothing and overhead.

Few state hospitals get the necessary funds to provide staff and equipment for intensive treatment, even though research has demonstrated that some patients who have been in a

hospital for as long as five, ten or twenty years recover when they receive intensive treatment.

The annual cost of caring for a patient in Indiana state mental hospitals ranges from a high of approximately $92,345 for intensive acute care for children and adolescents, to a low of $33,945 for geriatric/psychiatric patients. If one were to average the cost of all levels of care, it would be approximately $45,000 per patient per year.

• The community mental health center is a type of treatment facility where people can receive comprehensive, continuing treatment in their own community.

• Community mental health centers are planned and operated by local persons with financial help from federal, state and local governments.

• To be eligible for federal support during their first eight years in operation, these centers must provide 12 essential services: inpatient care, outpatient care, partial hospitalization, 24-hour emergency service, consultation and education, children's care, geriatric care, rehabilitation, and alcoholism and drug abuse programs.

• It is estimated that 1500 centers will be needed to serve the entire country.

• In Indiana, a network of 30 community mental health centers has been completed with no plans for future sites.

In recent years, treatment for mental and emotional disorders has been advanced through scientific research. The development of psychotropic drugs, for instance, has dramatically hastened the recovery of thousands of persons.

Research in the field of mental health, however, is still under funded, in comparison with that of other major illnesses. The federal research dollar is substantially higher for physical illnesses than for mental illnesses. We spend only 14 research dollars for each patient with schizophrenia and $10 for those with major depressive disorders. This compares to $161 for multiple sclerosis, $1,000 for muscular dystrophy, $130 for heart disease, and $203 for cancer. An average of $11 of research money for each American with schizophrenia or depression is about the same amount as spent to study tooth decay.

Scientists believe that they are on the threshold of discovering the causes of many types of mental disturbances. When this breakthrough is accomplished, methods for their prevention and cure can be anticipated.

Thus, research is vitally important to the fight to conquer mental illness and must continue through corporate funding.

THE MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION

• Most MHA money comes from individual contributions, either directly or through United Ways. Corporate gifts, foundation grants, bequests and other gifts supplement individual contributions.

• MHA programs include: education and prevention, volunteers, public policy advocacy, Christmas, childhood mental health, resource development and rehabilitation.

The History of the Mental Health Movement via Time Travel by SKH 10/98

© 2007 Mental Health America of  Hendricks County  All Rights Reserved