Mental Health Care Utilization

In 2009–2010, nearly 31 million, or 13.6 percent of adults in the United States reported receiving mental health treatment in the past year for a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder other than a substance use disorder. Women were more likely than men to receive treatment or counseling (17.5 versus 9.4 percent), which is roughly commensurate with the higher prevalence of mental illness (excluding substance use disorder) among women (more information on Mental Illness).¹ Utilization of mental health services was more common among women with higher educational attainment. Approximately 20 percent of college-educated women reported past year mental health treatment compared to 13.2 percent of women without a high school diploma.

Over 17 million women aged 18 years and older reported using prescription medication for treatment of a mental or emotional condition, representing 15.1 percent of women, which is almost twice the proportion of men (7.7 percent). Women were also nearly twice as likely as men to report receiving outpatient mental health treatment (8.4 versus 4.6 percent, respectively). Less than 1 percent of men and women received inpatient treatment in 2009– 2010 (data not shown in graph images or in data tables on this site).

In 2009–2010, mental health services were needed, but not received in the previous year, by about 11.5 million adults, corresponding to 5.1 percent of adults in the United States. Women were almost twice as likely as men to have an unmet need for mental health treatment or counseling in the past year (6.6 versus 3.4 percent, respectively; data not shown in graph images or in data tables on this site). Among women, cost was the most commonly reported reason for not receiving needed services (46.9 percent) followed by the belief that the problem could be handled without treatment (26.5 percent), not having enough time (17.6 percent), and not knowing where to go for treatment (15.1 percent).

1 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Results from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Findings. Accessed 08/27/12.

This image is described in the Data section.

This image is described in the Data section.