National Expenditures for Mental Health Services and Substance Abuse Treatment 1991-2001

An estimated 28 to 30 percent of the adult U.S. population will suffer from a mental or substance use disorder during the course of a year. In any given year, about five to seven percent of adults have a serious mental illness (Kessler et al., 2001). A similar percentage of children-about five to nine percent-has a serious emotional disturbance (Friedman et al., 1996). Of the ten leading causes of disability worldwide in 2000 among individuals age 15 to 44, five were psychiatric disorders including alcohol abuse (WHO, 2004). Given the prevalence of morbidity and mortality related to mental and substance use disorders and their wider societal impacts, it is important to know how much the United States is investing in treatment of mental and substance use disorders. Moreover, because of the rapid changes occurring in treatment technologies, philosophy, organization, and financing, the extent and character of this investment should be tracked over time.