Despite the impairment and distress resulting from their illness, a large proportion of adults in the United States with mental health problems delay treatment or do not receive treatment for their mental disorders.
The National Survey o­n Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) includes questions for adults aged 18 or older about their experiences with treatment for mental health problems. In this report, treatment for mental health problems among adults aged 18 or older is defined as "treatment or counseling for any problem with emotions, nerves, or mental health in the 12 months prior to the interview in any inpatient or outpatient setting, or the use of prescription medication for a mental or emotional condition." In addition, adults are asked if there was any time during the past 12 months when they needed treatment or counseling for mental health problems for themselves but did not receive it; for the purposes of this report, this is referred to as perceived unmet need for treatment for mental health problems. Adults reporting unmet need for treatment for such problems are asked to identify the reason(s) that they did not get the treatment or counseling they needed, This report focuses o­n adults aged 18 or older and examines the receipt of treatment for mental health problems, the perceived unmet need for treatment for such problems, and the reasons for not receiving treatment for mental health problems among those with an unmet need for treatment. Estimates of unmet need for treatment are presented for all adults. Additionally, estimates of unmet need are presented for the subset of adults who received treatment in the past year, thus providing estimates of unmet need among individuals whose treatment was delayed or insufficient to meet their needs. All findings presented in this report are annual averages based o­n combined 2003, 2004, and 2005 NSDUH data.
For the full report visit http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k6/mhTX/mhTX.htm