HEALTHWATCH Nearly a third of adolescents getting mental health treatment, federal survey finds
HEALTHWATCH
Nearly a third of adolescents getting mental health treatment, federal survey finds
healthwatch
By Alexander Tin
Edited By Paula Cohen
July 30, 2024 / 11:55 AM EDT / CBS News
Close to 1 in 3 adolescents in the U.S. received mental health treatment in 2023, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported Tuesday, which works out to around 8.3 million young people between the ages of 12 and 17 getting counseling, medication or another treatment.
The result is among the findings now released from SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health for 2023. The federal agency's sweeping annual poll is closely tracked by mental health and addiction experts.It includes a broad range of questions asked to Americans ages 12 and older living in the community, not in care facilities.
The most common type of mental health treatment was meeting with a provider in an outpatient setting, like at an office of a therapist or school counseling center.
Among adolescents, the biggest increase from 2022 was in the number getting medication for mental health treatment. SAMHSA estimates that 13.9% of those age 12 to 17 received such a prescription in 2023. That is up from 12.8% the year before, though the agency said that the increase was not statistically significant.
The share of adults receiving mental health treatment has also climbed, from 21.8% in the 2022 survey to 23% in 2023. Among adults, 16.3% got prescription medication for mental health treatment, compared to 15.2% in 2022.
SAMHSA officials said they saw the increase as a positive development, citing efforts to normalize and destigmatize seeking out mental health treatment.
"We think it's a good thing that more people are accessing and connecting with mental health treatment. Certainly that has been a focus of the Biden Harris administration to make treatment more accessible, to help people know that treatment and services and supports are available," Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Miriam Delphin-Rittmon told reporters at a briefing Tuesday.
Rates of adolescents getting mental health treatment has increased virtually every year since 2009 in SAMHSA's survey results, though the agency has cautioned against directly comparing against results from before 2021 due to changes in how the survey was done.
In 2022, the survey estimated that 7.7 million ages 12 to 17 years old had received mental health treatment of some kind, or 29.8%. The increase amounts to more than 500,000 additional adolescents getting treatment in 2023, SAMHSA said.
The rate of adolescents reporting having a major depressive episode has remained roughly flat since 2021, at 18.1% of those 12 to 17 years old, or 4.5 million.
Psychiatrists classify a major depressive episode as a period of feeling depressed for at least two weeks, to the point where the person has problems with daily tasks like sleeping and eating or thoughts of death or suicide.
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00:00Health Watch. Nearly a third of adolescents getting mental health treatment. Federal survey finds.
00:07Health Watch by Alexander Tin. Edited by Paula Cohen. July 30th, 2024 slash 1155 AM Eastern Daylight Time slash CBS News.
00:20Close to one in three adolescents in the U.S. received mental health treatment in 2023.
00:26The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported Tuesday.
00:31Which works out to around 8.3 million young people between the ages of 12 and 17 getting counseling, medication or another treatment.
00:42The result is among the findings now released from SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health for 2023.
00:50The federal agency's sweeping annual poll is closely tracked by mental health and addiction experts.
00:56It includes a broad range of questions asked to Americans ages 12 and older living in the community, not in care facilities.
01:05The most common type of mental health treatment was meeting with a provider in an outpatient setting, like at an office of a therapist or school counseling center.
01:15Among adolescents, the biggest increase from 2022 was in the number getting medication for mental health treatment.
01:23SAMHSA estimates that 13.9 percent of those age 12 to 17 received such a prescription in 2023.
01:31That is up from 12.8 percent the year before, though the agency said that the increase was not statistically significant.
01:40The share of adults receiving mental health treatment has also climbed from 21.8 percent in the 2022 survey to 23 percent in 2023.
01:50Among adults, 16.3 percent got prescription medication for mental health treatment compared to 15.2 percent in 2022.
02:00SAMHSA officials said they saw the increase as a positive development, citing efforts to normalize and destigmatize seeking out mental health treatment.
02:10We think it's a good thing that more people are accessing and connecting with mental health treatment.
02:16Certainly, that has been a focus of the Biden-Harris administration to make treatment more accessible, to help people know that treatment and services and supports are available.
02:26Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Miriam Delfin-Rittman told reporters at a briefing Tuesday.
02:34Rates of adolescents getting mental health treatment has increased virtually every year since 2009 in SAMHSA's survey results,
02:42though the agency has cautioned against directly comparing against results from before 2021 due to changes in how the survey was done.
02:51In 2022, the survey estimated that 7.7 million ages 12 to 17 years old had received mental health treatment of some kind, or 29.8 percent.
03:04The increase amounts to more than 500,000 additional adolescents getting treatment in 2023, SAMHSA said.
03:13The rate of adolescents reporting having a major depressive episode has remained roughly flat since 2021, at 18.1 percent of those 12 to 17 years old, or 4.5 million.
03:26Psychiatrists classify a major depressive episode as a period of feeling depressed for at least two weeks,
03:33to the point where the person has problems with daily tasks like sleeping and eating or thoughts of death or suicide.
03:40The report shows us that we must remain steadfast in our efforts to address the mental health and substance use crises, Delfin-Rittman said.
03:49Resources for Adolescent and Family Mental Health Support
03:53Rates of Vaping and Marijuana Use
03:56SAMHSA's survey found that traditional cigarette use has continued to slow nationwide,
04:01dropping to 13.7 percent or 38.7 million adolescents and adults overall in 2023.
04:09Meanwhile, nicotine vaping has increased to 9.4 percent of adolescents and adults, or 26.6 million people, up from 8.3 percent in 2022.
04:22Around 11.7 percent of people vaping nicotine were underage, similar to last year's results.
04:30Other federal surveys have reported finding that e-cigarette use in high school students could be declining significantly,
04:38but levels in middle school students have not.
04:41SAMHSA said its survey found that marijuana use overall was roughly flat from last year,
04:46at 21.8 percent or 61.8 million adolescents and adults smoking or taking weed.
04:54Among only users too young to legally use marijuana, which is illegal under age 21,
05:01even in states that have otherwise legalized it, SAMHSA found that underage use has decreased to 18.4 percent.
05:09The decline was too small to be statistically significant, the agency cautioned, and is above the 17.9 percent it was in 2021.
05:19The most common mode of using marijuana was smoking, at 77 percent of those adolescents and adults who have used marijuana in the past year.
05:28Close to half of users said they had consumed edible or beverage products containing it.