Mental health conditions affect people across ages, identities, and countries, but the patterns are not uniform. In the United States, 59.3 million adults—23.1% of adults—had any mental illness in 2022, while the World Health Organization reported that 1.1 billion people worldwide were living with a mental disorder in 2021. The figures below show how prevalence, severity, treatment, and risk differ by population and by measurement year.
Contents
- Mental illness among U.S. adults
- Treatment and access
- Young people, anxiety, and depression
- Depression and everyday emotional health
- Suicidal thoughts, attempts, and deaths
- Schizophrenia and serious impact
- The global picture
Mental illness among U.S. adults
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) estimated that 23.1% of U.S. adults had any mental illness in 2022, representing 59.3 million people. Prevalence varied by sex: 26.4% of women and 19.7% of men were affected. Age differences were also substantial. Any mental illness affected 36.2% of adults ages 18 to 25, 29.4% of adults ages 26 to 49, and 13.9% of adults age 50 and older. These are annual prevalence estimates for the United States in 2022, not lifetime totals.
NIMH reported the following 2022 prevalence estimates by race and ethnicity:
| Population | Any mental illness |
|---|---|
| Hispanic adults | 21.4% |
| White adults | 24.6% |
| Black adults | 19.7% |
| American Indian/Alaska Native adults | 19.6% |
| Asian adults | 16.8% |
| Adults identifying as two or more races | 35.2% |
Serious mental illness was less common than any mental illness but still affected 15.4 million U.S. adults, or 6.0%, in 2022, according to NIMH. The prevalence was 7.1% among women and 4.8% among men. By age, serious mental illness affected 11.3% of adults ages 18 to 25, 7.6% of adults ages 26 to 49, and 3.0% of adults age 50 and older.
Among the groups listed by NIMH, serious mental illness affected 11.8% of adults identifying as two or more races, 7.3% of American Indian/Alaska Native adults, and 3.5% of Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander adults in 2022. These categories describe measured population groups; they should not be treated as explanations for why prevalence differs.
Treatment and access
In 2022, 30.0 million U.S. adults with any mental illness received mental health treatment, equal to 50.6% of adults with any mental illness, according to NIMH. Treatment rates differed by sex and age. Women with any mental illness had a 56.9% treatment rate, compared with 41.6% for men. The rate was 49.1% among adults ages 18 to 25, 50.0% among adults ages 26 to 49, and 52.7% among adults age 50 and older.
NIMH also reported different treatment rates by race and ethnicity among adults with any mental illness in 2022: 39.6% for Hispanic adults, 56.1% for White adults, 37.9% for Black adults, 36.1% for Asian adults, and 56.0% for adults identifying as two or more races.
Treatment was more common among adults with serious mental illness. NIMH counted 10.2 million U.S. adults receiving treatment in 2022, or 66.7% of adults with serious mental illness. The treatment rate was 71.4% for women and 59.3% for men. By age, it was 61.4% for adults ages 18 to 25, 67.4% for adults ages 26 to 49, and 71.0% for adults age 50 and older.
Among adults with serious mental illness, NIMH reported treatment rates of 58.6% for Hispanic adults, 68.6% for White adults, 62.3% for Black adults, and 68.6% for adults identifying as two or more races in 2022. Treatment statistics indicate whether care was received; they do not measure whether treatment was affordable, timely, culturally appropriate, or effective.
The CDC/NCHS FastStats Mental Health estimates provide a separate national measure for 2023: 14% of U.S. adults received mental health treatment in the past 12 months. Because this measure and the NIMH measure use different definitions and survey frames, the percentages should not be directly combined or interpreted as a single trend.
Young people, anxiety, and depression
NIMH estimated that 49.5% of U.S. adolescents ages 13 to 18 had any mental disorder in 2022. Severe impairment was reported for 22.2% of adolescents with any mental disorder. Prevalence was 51.0% among female adolescents and 48.1% among male adolescents. Adolescents ages 17 to 18 had a prevalence of 56.7%.
Anxiety disorders were reported for 31.9% of U.S. adolescents ages 13 to 18 in 2022, according to NIMH. The prevalence was 38.0% among female adolescents and 26.1% among male adolescents. Among U.S. adults, 19.1% had any anxiety disorder in the past year in 2022. The corresponding prevalence was 23.4% for women, 14.3% for men, and 9.0% for adults age 60 and older.
NIMH described the impairment distribution among adults with any anxiety disorder in 2022: 43.5% had mild impairment, 33.7% had moderate impairment, and 22.8% had serious impairment. These figures describe severity among adults with the disorder, rather than the share of all adults experiencing each level.
Major depressive episodes affected 21.0 million U.S. adults in 2022, or 8.3% of adults, according to NIMH. Prevalence was 10.3% among women and 6.2% among men. Adults ages 18 to 25 had an 18.6% prevalence, while adults age 50 and older had a 4.5% prevalence.
Depression and everyday emotional health
Among U.S. adolescents ages 12 to 17, 5.0 million experienced at least one major depressive episode in 2022, equal to 20.1%, according to NIMH. The prevalence was 29.2% among female adolescents and 11.5% among male adolescents. Adolescents ages 16 to 17 had a 26.8% prevalence.
Treatment varied with severity. NIMH reported that 61.0% of adults with a major depressive episode received treatment in 2022. Among adults with severe impairment from a major depressive episode, the treatment rate was 74.8%.
The CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey reported that 40% of U.S. high school students had persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2023. This is a self-reported emotional-health measure and is not equivalent to a clinical diagnosis.
The CDC/NCHS FastStats Mental Health estimates for 2023 found that 5% of U.S. adults regularly felt depressed and 12% regularly felt anxious. In the same source and year, 19% of adults had ever been diagnosed with depression, 19% had ever been diagnosed with anxiety, and 14% received mental health treatment in the past 12 months. “Ever diagnosed,” “regularly felt,” and “received treatment” measure different experiences, so they should be read separately.
Suicidal thoughts, attempts, and deaths
Suicide-related statistics describe urgent outcomes and risk, but they are not interchangeable with prevalence estimates for mental illness. In 2023, 49,316 people in the United States died by suicide, a rate of 14.4 deaths per 100,000, according to NIMH Suicide statistics. NIMH also reported that suicide deaths rose 36% in the United States from 2000 to 2022.
The CDC WISQARS data identified suicide as the 11th leading cause of death overall in the United States in 2023. It was the second leading cause of death for people ages 10 to 34 and the fourth leading cause for people ages 35 to 44.
The SAMHSA National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) estimated that, in 2022, 12.8 million U.S. adults seriously thought about suicide, 3.7 million made a suicide plan, and 1.5 million attempted suicide. The later 2024 NSDUH estimates reported that 5.5% of U.S. adults seriously thought about suicide in the past year, equal to 14.3 million adults. In 2024, 4.6 million adults made a suicide plan and 2.2 million attempted suicide; 1.8 million both planned and attempted suicide, while 424,000 attempted without also making a plan.
In 2024, serious suicidal thoughts affected 12.6% of adults ages 18 to 25 and 10.7% of adults identifying as two or more races, according to SAMHSA NSDUH. Suicide attempts affected 0.8% of U.S. adults overall, 2.0% of adults ages 18 to 25, and 1.9% of adults identifying as two or more races.
Schizophrenia and serious impact
NIMH estimates that schizophrenia affects 0.25% to 0.64% of adults in the United States. The international prevalence estimate ranges from 0.33% to 0.75%. These are ranges, rather than a single point estimate.
NIMH reports that schizophrenia ranks among the top 15 causes of disability worldwide and is associated with an average of 28.5 years of potential life lost. About 4.9% of people with schizophrenia die by suicide, and about 50% have a co-occurring substance use disorder or psychiatric condition. These figures describe serious impacts associated with schizophrenia; they do not mean that every person with the condition experiences all of them.
The global picture
The World Health Organization reported that 1.1 billion people were living with a mental disorder worldwide in 2021. Within that global estimate, anxiety disorders affected 359 million people, including 72 million children and adolescents. Depression affected 280 million people, including 23 million children and adolescents.
WHO also estimated that bipolar disorder affected 37 million people globally in 2021. Adolescents ages 10 to 19 accounted for 3.8 million bipolar disorder cases. The global figures are 2021 estimates, while most U.S. figures above refer to 2022, 2023, or 2024; the years and geographic scopes should remain distinct when comparing them.