General Statistics

Role of classroom teachers in identifying potential mental health and substance use/abuse

Prevalence and Consequences of Youth Mental Illness

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General Statistics

• About 12 million children under 18 suffer from mental disorders such as autism, depression, and hyperactivity.
• Mental illness accounts for 25% of all disability in major industrialized countries.
• Nearly 10 million children, suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder (APA)
• Mental health disorders cost the United States more than $150 billion each year. (This calculates the costs of treatment, social service and disability payments, lost productivity, and premature death.
• Clinical depression, which can totally incapacitate a person, costs an estimated $23 billion in lost work days each year.
• 15.4 million American adults and 4.6 million adolescents experience serious alcohol-related programs, and another 12.5 million suffer form drug abuse or dependence.
• Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 24.
• Emotional and mental disorders can be treated or controlled, but only one in five people who have these disorders seek help, and only four to 15 percent of the children suffering severe mental illnesses receive appropriate treatment.
• Nearly 5,000 teenagers commit suicide each year.
• 1,000 teenagers attempt suicide every day in the United States.

 National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) / http://www.apa.org/practice/paper/homepage.html

• Adult Americans with depression, anxiety or other psychological disorders annually miss 1.3 billion days of work, school or other daily activity.
• Among mental disorders, depression accounted for the most sick days, 387 million. Other reasons included social phobia, 214 million days; post-traumatic stress disorder, 113 million; generalized anxiety disorder, 110 million; bipolar disorder, 103 million; panic disorders, 101 million; substance abuse, 93 million; agoraphobia, 37 million; and separation anxiety disorder, 20 million.
  
• Mental disorders account for about a third of sick days, roughly equal to those caused by back and neck pain.

 Archives of General Psychiatry

Role of classroom teachers in identifying potential mental health and substance use/abuse

 Research conducted as a part of the Sunnylands Adolescent Mental Health Initiative highlighted the crucial role of classroom teachers in identifying potential mental health and substance use/abuse problems. Surveys of mental health professionals in over 2000 public schools in the United States (a sample frame that is representative of over 90% of all adolescent students in the U.S.) showed that only 37% felt that their schools have a clear process for identifying students with potential mental health and/or substance abuse problems. Only 21% of schools train all or most of their staff to identify such problems.

Five factors have been proven to predict school effectiveness in dealing with students who might have a mental health condition. They are:

• Well defined and coordinated process for both identifying and referring students
• Well defined and coordinated process for diagnosing and treating students
• Staff that are effective in identifying students at risk for mental health problems
• Counseling programs on site in communities with adequate treatment resources

Romer, Daniel, and McIntosh, Mary, The Roles and Perspectives of School Mental Health Professionals in Promoting Adolescent Mental Health, Chapter 31, Evans, Dwight, et al, Treating and Preventing Adolescent Mental Health Disorders, Oxford University Press, 2005

Prevalence and Consequences of Youth Mental Illness

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2005, 16% of U.S. children aged 4-17 had parents who had talked to a health care provider or school personnel about their child’s emotional or behavioral difficulties during the past 12 months.

Without intervention, child and adolescent disorders frequently continue into adulthood. For example, research shows that when children with co-existing depression and conduct disorders become adults, they tend to use more health care services and have higher health care costs than other adults. If the system does not appropriately screen and treat them early, these childhood disorders may persist and lead to a downward spiral of school failure, poor employment opportunities, and poverty in adulthood. No other illnesses damage so many children so seriously (The President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, Final Report, July 2003).

In its 2000 report, the Coalition for Juvenile Justice estimated that 50 – 75% of teenagers in the juvenile justice system have a diagnosable mental disorder and these numbers appear to be growing.

While the need is up and the rates of use are increasing, the sobering fact remains that only about 20% of you with emotional and behavioral needs are receiving mental health care. The lack of trained providers in children’s mental health contributes to these problems of access and availability (Transforming the Workforce in Children’s Mental Health, Nat’l Technical Assistance Center for Children’s Mental Health, Georgetown University, 2004).

AACAP Workforce Fact Sheet. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Physicians

Recommended Websites for additional statistics

www.healthinschools.org

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