The share of U.S. adolescents with depression fell by about a quarter in three years, to 15.4% in 2024 from 20.8% in 2021, according to Mental Health America’s “State of Mental Health in America 2026” report, released Nov. 9.
Adults have not seen the same progress. The share of adults with mental illness has held steady since 2021, and cost is keeping more of them from care. The report’s coverage data was collected before recent drops in ACA marketplace enrollment, which MHA said won’t show up until federal survey data for 2025 and 2026 is released.
Here are 10 things to know:
1. In 2024, 23.4% of U.S. adults had a mental illness in the past year. That is more than 61 million people, and the rate has not changed significantly since 2021.
2. About 14 million adults, or 5.5%, had serious thoughts of suicide in 2024.
3. In combined 2023 and 2024 data, 9.1% of adults with mental illness were uninsured. That totals nearly 5.5 million people.
4. Among adults with 14 or more mentally unhealthy days a month, 27.65% could not see a physician because of cost in 2024. That share has climbed since 2021.
5. Some adults needed mental health treatment in 2024 but did not get it. Of that group, 65.2% said they thought treatment would cost too much, the second most common reason. The most common reason was believing they should be able to handle it on their own, cited by 71%.
6. Among youth ages 12-17, the share with serious thoughts of suicide fell to 10.1% in 2024 from 12.9% in 2021.
7. Still, 11.3% of youth, about 2.8 million, had a major depressive episode with severe impairment in 2024.
8. Nearly half of youth with a major depressive episode, 49.3%, received no treatment or counseling in combined 2023 and 2024 data. In 2024, among youth with a major depressive episode who did not get care, 92.8% said they felt they should have been able to handle it on their own, and 74.3% said they worried about what people would think.
9. States with more rural populations continue to face the largest gaps in access to care, the organization said. In its state rankings, Maryland ranked No. 1 overall, and Nevada ranked last for the third straight year.
10. Mental Health America is moving future releases to the spring because federal data reporting schedules have changed, the organization said. It expects to publish the 2027 report in spring 2027.
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