Drug Use for Mental Illness on the Rise

Although mental illness has not always been treated as a medical condition, increasing knowledge and greater conceptual sophistication have brought with them significant change. Both the acknowledgment of mental illness by medical science and its quest for successful treatment of these disorders have marked milestones in the journey toward improving these aspects of the human condition. However, there remains a great deal of research to be done regarding the causes and treatment of mental illness.

Mental health disorders affect an estimated 22 percent of American adults each year due to very complex causes that often involve a combination of genetics, biology, and uncontrolled life experiences. Studies have shown that mental disorders are linked to physical changes in the brain and that some mental illnesses run in families, indicating a genetic association. Millions of Americans suffer from various forms of mental health issues ranging from social anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder to drug and alcohol addiction to personality disorders. However, successful treatment options including medications and psychotherapy as well as other treatments are available.

Since 1996, the number of Americans who use prescription drugs for the treatment of mental illness has been on the rise. In fact, among seniors 65 and older, the use of psychotropic drugs such as antidepressants, antipsychotics and Alzheimer's medicines doubled between 1996 and 2006. In addition, the 10-year period revealed an increase of 73 percent among adults and 50 percent among children in drug use for the treatment of mental illness. This accounts for one in 10 adults and one in 20 children having reported prescription mental health drug use in 2006.

According to health policy researchers Sherry Glied of Columbia University and Richard Frank of Harvard Medical School, the drug usage increase may be due in part to the expansion of insurance coverage for these drugs as well as a broader familiarity with them among primary care physicians. Their report appears in the journal Health Affairs and is titled "Better But Not Best: Recent Trends In The Well-Being Of The Mentally Ill." Glied said, “What we generally find is there has been an increase in access to care for all populations.” She went on to explain, “Mental health has become much more a part of mainstream medical care.”

The researchers gathered their data from several large U.S. public health surveys that included the National Center for Health Statistics, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Social Security Administration.

Glied voiced concern regarding the little progress that has been made in the access to care for people suffering from more serious mental illnesses. The study found that treatment for older adults having mental limitations and requiring assistance with dressing, eating, or bathing dropped over the 10-year period between 1996 and 2006. Frank agreed by saying, “seniors are most concerning to us.” These patients have been the most under-treated and although many are now getting psychiatric medication, access to specialists is declining among the seriously impaired. In addition, with approximately 7 percent of Americans suffering from serious mental illness ending up in jail or prison each year, the researchers noted, “New policies are desperately needed to reduce the flow of people whose primary problem is a mental disorder into the criminal justice system.”

With the 2008 federal parity law came the requirement employers to provide equivalent insurance coverage for both physical and mental illness in an effort to improve access to care. However, concerns remain that the ongoing recession will leave a growing number of Americans uninsured and this could leading to less mental health coverage for many in the near future.