Mental illness can strike anyone. One in four families will have a member with a mental illness and one in five individuals will have a mental illness at some point in their lives. Mental illnesses are real--not the result of a personal failure, lack of willpower, or moral weakness. Yet the stigma associated with mental illness is a major cause of lack of treatment and treatment services.

• In 1987, approximately one million American youngsters dropped out of school. One out of seven of today's 4 and 5 year olds are likely to drop out of school before the end of high school.
• Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people 15-24 years of age, following unintentional injuries and homicide.*
• A conservative estimate of mental health problems among children and adolescents is that 12%, or 7.5 million, of the country's 63 million youths under age 18 have mental, behavioral, or developmental disorders. Nearly one half of the 7.5 million are believed to be severely handicapped by their illnesses and only one third of those who need treatment receive it.*
• Virginia has approximately 1,500,000 children ages 17 and under. National prevalence rates applied to this figure indicate that 177,000 of our children have or are at risk of mental health problems and 75,000 have serious emotional disabilities.**
  In 1994, 4,2027 children with serious emotional disturbance were served by the Community Services Boards in Virginia.

Common mental problems found in young people:

• Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness. Phobia, the most common of the anxiety disorders, is an unreasonable fear of some object or situation, or intense fear of being judged by others.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a condition in which a person feels compelled to perform pointless rituals.
• Depressive disorders include all mood or affective disorders and are the second most common mental illness.
• Major depression is a combination of disabling symptoms that interfere with the ability to work, sleep, eat, and enjoy once pleasurable activities.
• Manic-depressive illness (bipolar disorder) is a condition in which a person's mood alternates between depression and euphoric or irritable "highs."
• Attention-deficit disorder (ADHD) is the most common mental disorder among the 49 million children under age 13, affecting 3% to 5% of children, or between one and two million. Symptoms of ADHD are developmentally inappropriate degrees of inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity.
• Other mental disorders occurring among youths include conduct disorders, and eating disorders. Also many among them suffer from developmental disabilities that may be severe, such as autism, or may be of varying severity as is the case with learning disabilities.
  

These data statistics are from a composite of studies and relate to the current U.S. population for children and adolescents. Six month and lifetime prevalence data, comparable to the data presented for adults, do not exist.

* Data Supplied by:

Mental Health Information Center
National Mental Health Association
1021 Prince Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-2971
(703) 684-7722

**Mental Health Plan, 1995

Commonwealth of Virginia