Mental Health and Mental Disorders

Goal: Improve mental health.

About half of all people in the United States will be diagnosed with a mental disorder at some point in their lifetime.1  Healthy People 2030 focuses on the prevention, screening, assessment, and treatment of mental disorders and behavioral conditions. The Mental Health and Mental Disorders objectives also aim to improve health and quality of life for people affected by these conditions.

Mental disorders affect people of all age and racial/ethnic groups, but some populations are disproportionately affected. And estimates suggest that only half of all people with mental disorders get the treatment they need.2  

In addition, mental health and physical health are closely connected. Mental disorders like depression and anxiety can affect people’s ability to take part in healthy behaviors. Similarly, physical health problems can make it harder for people to get treatment for mental disorders. Increasing screening for mental disorders can help people get the treatment they need. 

Objective Status

  • 2 Target met or exceeded
  • 0 Improving
  • 6 Little or no detectable change
  • 2 Getting worse
  • 5 Baseline only
  • 8 Developmental
  • 3 Research

Learn more about objective types

References

1.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Mental Health: Data and Publications. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/data_publications/index.htm

2.

National Institutes of Mental Health. (2018). Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/index.shtml