Mental health first aid teaches you how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illness and substance use disorders in your community.
Someone you know is affected by a mental health concern.
Being able to help friends and loved ones in a mental health crisis can make a huge difference in your relationship and the person’s emotional state.
Mental health by the numbers
One in five Americans suffer from a mental health disorder every year. Click the link for more information.
Approximately 1 in 6 youth aged 13–18 (16.6%) experience a severe mental disorder at some point during their life.
1 in 6
Only 47.2% of adults in the U.S. with a mental health condition received mental health services in 2021. Among adults with a serious mental illness, 65.4% received mental health services in the past year.
47.2%
Half of all chronic mental illness begins by age 14; three-quarters by age 24. Despite effective treatment, there are long delays—sometimes decades—between the first appearance of symptoms and when people get help.
1/2
What about in the workplace?
It’s estimated that untreated workplace mental illness costs the U.S. 3.7 trillion dollars annually
Globally, an estimated 12 billion working days are lost yearly due to depression and anxiety, costing $ 1 trillion U.S. dollars per year in lost productivity
Untreated mental illness costs the U.S. $150 billion per year
Mood disorders are the 3rd most common cause of hospitalization
People with mental illness are at higher risk for chronic medical conditions
Suicide is the 12th leading cause of death in the U.S. (3rd for ages 15-24)
While staggering, these statistics don’t begin to tell the story of the personal suffering that mental illness can cause.