A higher ranking meant that a state had fewer people diagnosed with mental illness or substance abuse and more mental health care providers. It also meant more people had health insurance and were getting regular checkups.
People in Distress Are Going Without Help
Based on the findings, 1 in 4 American adults with a mental illness wanted or sought treatment but wasn’t able to get it. Among American kids, over half who experienced a major depressive episode in the past year didn’t receive treatment.
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“We also found a huge need for preventive care, especially among youths,” Reinert says. She points to data from the report that found about 30 percent of kids between ages 12 and 17 didn’t have a preventive health visit between 2022 and 2023. “That is concerning because preventive health visits are especially critical in adolescence to promote wellness and identify both physical and mental health problems as early as possible,” she says.
Reinert notes that 50 percent of adults with a mental health condition show symptoms as a teen. “These preventive visits are often the only place adolescents receive necessary mental health screenings, including screenings for depression and substance use,” she says.
But there were some positives from the report: “There was a significant improvement in rates of youth with major depression and thoughts of suicide from 2023 to 2024,” Reinert says.
The percentage of kids aged 12 to 17 who experienced a major depressive episode in the past year decreased from 18.1 percent in 2023 to 15.4 percent in 2024. The percentage reporting serious thoughts of suicide in the past year also dropped, from 12.3 percent in 2023 to 10.1 percent in 2024.
Mental Health Outcomes Get Better When Funding Increases
The report “does not include many surprises,” but the information is still important, says Mark Olfson, MD, MPH, a professor of epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and professor of psychiatry at Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. Despite persistent and wide-ranging mental health disparities between states, he says, the data show that when states invest money, mental health gets better.
For example, Reinert points to increased funding for youth mental health services, “especially school-based services and crisis services through the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which may have helped to reduce the rates of youth depression and suicidal ideation,” she says.
Reinert also points to the 2022 signing of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which included funding to the Department of Education to expand school-based mental health services and increase the number of mental health professionals providing services in schools.
“These services have been shown to improve access to care and contribute to better mental health outcomes,” Reinert says. “When we see real changes in prevalence of mental health conditions or access to care in this report, it shows that the changes we are making are working, so we should not reverse or discontinue momentum on these policies.”
There Are Still Resources Available for People in Low-Ranking States
“It’s not just physical care that people need access to,” says Judy Bass, PhD, MPH, a psychiatric epidemiologist and professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. “They need access to mental health care, too.”
If you live in a low-ranking state or have trouble accessing care regardless of where you live, Dr. Olfson recommends looking at your state or county health department website for information on local mental health resources.
If you have Medicaid, your state’s Medicaid office should have a list of providers who take your insurance in your area. “Primary care providers can also perform initial mental health assessments and make referrals to mental health service providers, and local family services agencies can help with referrals,” Olfson says.
If you’re having a mental health crisis and don’t have a mental health care provider, Reinert recommends calling or texting 988 for help. (Mental Health America also has a crisis text line, 741741.)
For nonemergency help finding care, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has an online database for locating providers near you.
