Nearly 20 percent of Americans – 44.5 million adults – experienced some sort of mental illness (http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k11/078/WEB_SR_078.htm) over the last year, according to a new report from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Agency (SAMHSA).

The report details state by state the percent of the population (http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k11/078/WEB_SR_078.htm) who has suffered a mental illness.

“Mental illnesses are treatable and people can recover to live full, productive lives. Unfortunately in the past year only 37.9 percent of adults with mental health problems received any type of care,” SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde said in a statement. “The chasm between need and care is costly both in terms of personal health because of missed opportunities to prevent disability and health care expenditures related to illness such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity.”

That leaves something like 27.6 million people who have a mental illness that is left untreated in the United States.

The report counts “mental illness” as any sort of mental, behavioral or emotional disorder that is diagnosable from the DSM-IV. The disorder must cause “substantial functional impairment” or must be defined as a serious mental illness that requires treatment.

Check the Huffington Post at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/13/mental-health-states-america_n_1007844.html to see a slideshow that presents, from lowest to highest, how many people in each state experienced a mental illness (according to 2008 and 2009 data that included 68,936 adults).

All in all, this is not just informative, it’s a bit on the uber-scary side and is more than a whole lot disconcerting-and-a-half.

All the best,
Brian