Frequent Mental Distress - Women

Frequent Mental Distress - Women in United States

United States

A healthy mental state is essential to overall positive health and well-being. Frequent mental distress aims to capture the population experiencing persistent, and likely severe, mental health issues, defined by 14 or more days of poor mental health a month. A strong relationship exists between the 14-day period and clinically diagnosed mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety.

Populations suffering from severe mental illness and frequent mental distress have a higher prevalence of risky health behaviors, including smoking, alcohol use, unhealthy diet and lack of free-time physical activity. These health behaviors are known to increase the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease. Certain factors that cause stress, such as housing insecurity, food insecurity and insufficient sleep, are also related to frequent mental distress. In some cases, poor mental health can lead to suicide, the second-leading cause of death among females ages 10-24 and the third-leading and fourth-leading cause of death among those ages 25-34 and ages 35-44, respectively. 

Poor mental health can lead to costly treatments or missed economic opportunities. In 2009 the direct costs of mental health disorders among women were nearly $85 billion, with over $20 billion spent on depression-related care. Among pregnant women and their children, untreated perinatal mood and anxiety disorders cost the United States roughly $14 billion.

The prevalence of frequent mental distress is higher among:

• Women ages 18-24 compared with women ages 25-44.
• Multiracial and American Indian/Alaska Native women compared with Black, Hispanic and Asian women.
• Women with less education compared with college graduates. 
• Women with annual household incomes less than $25,000, who have a prevalence more than double that of those with incomes of $75,000 or more. The prevalence was lower with each increase in income level.

Although occasional short periods of mental distress and a few poor mental health days may be unavoidable, more prolonged and serious episodes are treatable and potentially preventable through early intervention. Universal preventive interventions to promote social and emotional skills may be effective in reducing anxiety and depression. Mental health parity laws that improve insurance coverage for mental health are associated with better mental health care access, lower out-of-pocket costs, reduced prevalence of poor mental health and lower suicide rates. Collaborative care models, which join primary care providers and mental health specialists, are also effective in managing depressive disorders. Continued monitoring of frequent mental distress trends may help identify unmet social and mental health needs and inform future interventions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a resources page for mental health, including a mental health services locator.

Healthy People 2030 has several objectives related to mental health, including: 

• Increasing the proportion of primary care visits where adolescents and adults are screened for depression.
• Increasing the proportion of adults with depression who get treatment.
• Increasing the proportion of adults with serious mental illness who get treatment. 
• Increasing the proportion of homeless adults with mental health problems who get mental health services.

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