Mental Health America (MHA) has released its annual State of Mental Health in America report, which ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 15 mental health access and prevalence measures. Using 2022 data, Massachusetts ranked 1st, Nevada last, and Virginia ranked 12th in the comprehensive range of well-being metrics.
The U.S. is indeed in a mental health crisis, according to MHA’s analysis. Nearly 60 million adults (23.08%) experienced a mental illness in the past year. Among other worrisome findings, nearly 13 million adults (5.04%) reported serious thoughts of suicide. The number of individuals who died by suicide in 2022 was the highest number ever recorded in the U.S., up after slight decreases in 2019 and 2020.
The nation’s youth continue to present cause for concern. One in five young people from ages 12-17 experienced at least one major depressive episode in the past year, yet more than half of them (56.1%) did not receive any mental health treatment. More than 3.4 million youth (13.16%) had serious thoughts of suicide.
MHA gathered the most recently available federal data in each state, with the majority collected through 2022. States with positive outcomes are ranked higher (closer to one) than states with poorer outcomes (closer to 51).
All states experienced record numbers of people with a mental illness and lack of available resources. Within that context, there is some encouraging news in that Virginia, using 2022 data, ranks better than many other states:
- 12th overall for adults and youth. Neighboring states Maryland ranked 14th, North Carolina 29th, West Virginia 37th and Tennessee 42nd
- 9th in prevalence of mental illness and access to care
- 12th in adult prevalence of mental illness
- 13th in adults with serious thoughts of suicide
- 13th in adults with any mental illness who are uninsured
- 8th in adults with any mental illness with private insurance that did not cover mental or emotional problems
- 17th in overall youth mental health
- 16th in youth with private insurance that did not cover mental or emotional problems
Virginia’s average and worse rankings compared to other states:
- 32nd in adult access to care
- 26th in youth with at least one major depressive episode in the past year
- 26th in youth with serious thoughts of suicide
- 31st in youth flourishing
- 27th in youth with major depressive episode who did not receive mental health services
- 33rd in youth with major depressive episode who said treatment helped them
- 38th in an available mental health workforce
Virginia has ranked near the bottom in access to a trained mental health professional for many years, and today every locality is a federally designated mental health professional shortage area. There is both urgent and long-term work to be done, and expanding the workforce is a major challenge.
The data in the report is always about two years old, as it relies on federal data collected from all states by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education. The COVID-19 pandemic had a serious impact on federal agencies’ ability to collect national surveillance data in 2020. As a result, the rankings in this year’s State of Mental Health in America report cannot be compared to previous years, though it does provide an accurate snapshot of mental health at a point in time.
Virginia’s positive rankings in the 2022 data reflect the benefit of expanding Medicaid, and the increased attention to mental health resources from legislators, state and local officials over the last several years. There should be continued improvement as state and local leaders are now focused on transforming crisis services and developing a continuum of care in local communities.
Read more in the full State of Mental Health in America report: https://mhanational.org/sites/default/files/2024-State-of-Mental-Health-in-America-Report.pdf
