Our nation’s communities are seeing the effects of mental and substance use disorders every day. According to SAMHSA’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health, among the 19.7 million adults in the U.S. who experienced a substance use disorder, 8.5 million adults, had a co-occurring mental illness in 2017. At the same time, countless American communities have suffered because of the opioid crisis. NSDUH also found that approximately 11.4 million or 4.2 percent of the population aged 12 or older in the U.S. misused opioids in 2017. Many people who need treatment are not seeking the help they need to begin their path to recovery.
- In 2017, an estimated 13.5 million adults aged 18 or older had a perceived unmet need for mental health care at any time in the past year, including 6.5 million adults who did not receive any mental health services in the past year.
- About half of the adults with a co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder in the past year did not receive either type of service. An estimated 8.3 percent of adults with these co-occurring disorders received both mental health care and specialty substance use treatment, 38.2 percent received only mental health care, and 4.4 percent received only specialty substance use treatment.
- Substance use disorder treatment and recovery support services can help people find pathways to sustained recovery, permitting them to lead active and meaningful lives while contributing to their communities. By engaging individuals with substance use disorders, helping them access the treatment, recovery support, and other services they need, and by welcoming them back to the community as they embark upon the pathway to recovery, we can build healthier, more resilient communities and reduce the public health and public safety costs of unchecked addiction. Supportive interpersonal relationships and positive messages are often the catalyst that people hope they can find in recovery, and these factors are often what move them to seek help.
- If you want to get help for mental or substance use, call Lifecare and schedule an appointment with one of our counselors. Call 330-454-2000 today!