(May 17, 2016) The number of people with schizophrenia or severe bipolar disorder now tops 8 million adults in the United States, according to a new population analysis by the Office of Research & Public Affairs. Close to half are untreated at any given time.
Applying National Institute of Health (NIMH) prevalence statistics to the U.S. Census Bureau population estimates for 2015 produces the following findings:
- 8.1 million U.S. adults had schizophrenia or severe bipolar at the combined NIMH prevalence rate of 3.3%.
- 3.8 million people were estimated to be untreated at any given time.
- Schizophrenia affected 2.7 million persons, based on a prevalence rate of 1.1%. Of them, slightly fewer than 1.1 million people were untreated.
- Bipolar disorder (formerly called manic-depressive disorder) affected 5.4 million individuals, based on a prevalence rate of 2.2%. Of them, slightly fewer than 1.8 million were untreated.*
- As the state with the most adults, California’s combined population with the two diseases was 979,168, of whom 464,779 were estimated to be untreated.
- As the state with the fewest adults, Wyoming’s combined population with schizophrenia or severe bipolar was 14,738, of whom an estimated 6,996 were untreated.
A chart with every state’s numbers can be found on the Treatment Advocacy Center website.
No Academic Matter
To put this in context, the 8.1 million combined population of people living with the two diseases is more than the entire adult populations of 44 states and more than twice the population of 26 of them. It is roughly the same number of persons in the US with attention deficit disorder, 1.5 times the population with Alzheimer’s disease and nearly 8 times the number of individuals with HIV. The prevalence of these serious mental illnesses is almost double the rate of autism (1.4%) and Down syndrome (0.9%) combined.
The numbers help illustrate how overrepresented mental illness is in some of the most pressing social and economic issues the nation faces.
For example, with an estimated 356,000 inmates with serious mental illness in America’s jails and prisons and 3.8 million adults untreated for one of the two most serious mental illnesses, the risk of being incarcerated is nearly 10% for those whose schizophrenia or severe bipolar is not treated.
In emergency rooms, there were an estimated 640,000 visits for symptoms of schizophrenia or other psychosis in 2013, the most recent year for which there is federal data. That’s more than 1 ER visit for every 2 people with untreated schizophrenia. While the actual risk factor for an ER visit is lower because some individuals are seen in the ER more than once, the ratio is still far in excess of the likelihood of an ER trip in the general population.
Meanwhile, an estimated 4.2 million Americans are caring for an adult family member with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, according to a recent report from the National Alliance for Caregiving. That means half the people with one of the diseases is cared for by a family member, whose employment, health and finances are impacted by the role and contribute to the indirect costs of serious mental illness.
Numbers are not adequate to describe the personal challenges, risks and suffering that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder introduce into the lives of the millions who live with them, particularly those who are untreated. However, data are essential ingredients to an informed national conversation about the impact and costs of these diseases and the need for public health policies that better address them.
Doris A. Fuller
Chief of Research and Public Affairs
*The NIMH estimates an additional 0.4% of the adult population has mild- to moderate-bipolar disorder.
References:
- Treatment Advocacy Center. (2016). “Prevalence of untreated serious mental illness by state (2015).”
- Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). “National statistics on mental health hospitalizations.”
- National Alliance for Caregiving. (2016). “On pins and needles: Caregivers of adults with mental illness.”
- National Institute of Mental Health. “Schizophrenia.”
- National Institute of Mental Health. “Bipolar disorder among adults.”
- Treatment Advocacy Center. (2014). “How many individuals with serious mental illness are in jails and prisons?”
NEXT WEEK: The Anatomical Basis of Anosognosia
Research Weekly is a summary published as a public service of the Treatment Advocacy Center and does not necessarily reflect the findings or positions of the organization or its staff. Full access to research summarized may require a fee or paid subscription to the publications.
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