Children's Mental Health Statistics

General

  • Mental health problems affect one in every five young people at any given time. (Department of Health & Human Services)
  • An estimated two-thirds of all young people with mental health problems are not getting the help they need. (Department of Health & Human Services)
  • Studies indicate that 1 in 5 children and adolescents (20 percent) may have a diagnosable disorder. Estimates of the number of children who have mental disorders range from 7.7 million to 12.8 million. (Department of Health & Human Services)

Anorexia Nervosa

  • Anorexia affect one in every 100 to 200 adolescent girls and a much smaller number of boys. (Department of Health & Human Services)
  • Approximately 1% of adolescent girls develop anorexia nervosa. 1 in 10 cases lead to death from starvation, cardiac arrest, or suicide. (National Institute of Mental Health)

Anxiety Disorders

  • As many as 1 in 10 young people may have an anxiety disorder (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services).
  • Studies suggest that children or adolescents are more likely to have an anxiety disorder if their parents have anxiety disorders (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services).

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

  • 30 percent - 40 percent of children diagnosed with ADHD have relatives with the same type of problem. (Clinical Pediatrics)
  • ADHD is the most common psychiatric condition affecting children, estimates in prevalence in childhood range from 5 - 10%. (Clinical Pediatrics)
  • As many as 50% of children with ADHD are never diagnosed. (Harvard Mental Health Letter)

Bipolar Disorder (Manic-Depression)

  • Almost one-third of six to twelve year old children diagnosed with major depression will develop bipolar disorders within a few years. (Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)

Bulimia Nervosa

  • Reported rates of bulimia nervosa vary from one to three out of 100 young people. (Department of Health and Human Services)

Conduct Disorder

  • As many as 1 in 10 children and adolescents may have conduct disorder. (Department of Health and Human Services)

Depression

  • Recent studies show that, at any given time, as many as one in every 33 children may have clinical depression. The rate of depression among adolescents may be as high as one in eight. (Department of Health and Human Services)
  • Recent studies have shown that greater than 20% of adolescents in the general population have emotional problems and one-third of adolescents attending psychiatry clinics suffer from depression. (The Canadian Journal of CME)

Juvenile Justice

  • It is estimates that between 118,700 and 186,600 youths who are involved in the juvenile justice system have at least one mental disorder. (The National Coalition for the Mentally Ill in the Criminal Justice System)
  • According to a 1994 OJJDP study of juveniles' response to health screenings conducted at the admission of juvenile facilities, 73 percent of juveniles reported having mental health problems and 57 percent reported having prior mental health treatment or hospitalization.
  • Of the 100,000 teenagers in juvenile detention, estimates indicate that 60 percent have behavioral, mental or emotional problems. (Department of Justice)

Learning Disorders

  • It is thought that anywhere from 15 - 20 % of children with ADHD have a condition known as a "Specific Learning Disability" - and perhaps 50% of children with learning disability have ADHD. (Hyperactivity and Attention Deficit Disorder in Children)

Schizophrenia

  • Schizophrenia is rare in children under 12, but occurs in about three out of every 1,000 adolescents. (Department of Health & Human Services)

Serious Emotional Disturbances

  • Serious emotional disturbances affect 1 in ever 10 young people at any given time. (Department of Health & Human Services)

Suicide

  • Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 - 24 year olds (approx 5,000 young people) and the sixth leading cause of death for five - 15 year olds. (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)
  • The rate of suicide for this age group has nearly tripled since 1960, making it the third leading cause of death in adolescents and the second leading cause of death among college age youth. (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)
  • More teenagers and young adults died as a result of suicide in 1999 than cancer, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, birth defects, stroke and chronic lung disease combined. (U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention)
  • For every older teen and young adult who takes his or her own life, 100-200 of their peers attempts suicide. Between 500,000 and 1 million young people attempt suicide each year. (American Association of Suicidology)