Government report finds millions untreated for mental illness, substance abuse

Millions of Americans who admit to mental health problems and abuse of drugs or alcohol have gone untreated due to social stigmas and lack of affordable options, a government report shows.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released its recovery report on Wednesday. The agency, a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services, based its projections on a national survey from 2021.

Of the 70 million U.S. adults who self-reported ever having a substance abuse or mental health problem, about 28% — or 19.8 million — had not entered or completed a recovery program, the estimates show.

“Adults who participated in at least one government assistance program, had a lower level of education, or had a lower family income relative to the federal poverty level tended to have a higher prevalence of substance use recovery, but a lower prevalence of mental health recovery,” SAMHSA noted in the report.

“The percentage of adults in mental health recovery tended to be higher among those who were insured, had better overall health, were heterosexual, or were never arrested or booked for breaking the law,” it added.

According to the estimates, 33.5% of adults self-reporting a mental health problem were not recovering or recovered, about 19.9 million people. Among drug and alcohol addicts, about 27.8% or 8.1 million adults were unrecovered, the data showed.

Because the survey only interviewed adults who admitted to having problems, it did not include untreated Americans who did not admit to having problems. It also excluded homeless people not in shelters, SAMHSA noted.

At a panel discussion of the findings in Washington, mental health and addiction specialists emphasized the need to expand access to affordable health care options. Some also cited the growing opioid addiction crisis as a particular concern.

Panelists said many adults avoid treatment for mental illness, drug addiction, alcoholism or a combination of the three because of social stigmas, uncertainty about where to go and concerns about medical costs.