Mental Health Statistics 2026

In 2024, 23.40% of adults in the U.S. experienced any mental illness (AMI) in the past year, equivalent to over 60 million people.

In 2024, 5.60% of adults had a serious mental illness.

Regularly had feelings of worry, nervousness, or anxiety 12.4 (11.8-13.0) 12.7 (11.9-13.5) 12.5 (12.1-13.0)

Regularly had feelings of depression 4.4 (4.0-4.9) 4.6 (4.1-5.1) 4.5 (4.2-4.8)

In addition to the 29% who now say their mental health is excellent, 43% describe it as good.

The combined 72% rating their mental health as excellent or good is also a low by three percentage points.

adults who report currently having or being treated for depression was 19.1% in the first quarter of 2026, similar to the high mark of 20.0% recorded the preceding quarter and up nearly nine percentage points since the initial measurement in 2015.

adults who report being diagnosed at any point in their lifetime has also edged up since 2024, to 29.5% today.

The latest data find that 28.0% of the youngest adults — currently aged 18 to 29 and most of whom were adolescents in 2017 — have depression, far higher than any other age cohort today or in 2017.

from 22.1% in 2017 to 37.4% today.

After declining from pandemic-era highs of 25% to a range of 17% to 18% through much of 2022 and 2023, reports of individuals experiencing significant loneliness “a lot of the day yesterday” have inched upward again since the latter half of 2024 to 21%.

Four in 10 adults (42%) say they experience loneliness at least once a week, including 16% that experience loneliness every day.

Nearly half (48%) of respondents said they are more anxious than they were last year, an increase from 43% in 2025.

with current events and paying bills or expenses tied as the leading sources of anxiety at 62% each.

Half of adults in the U.S. reported feelings of emotional disconnection, saying they have felt isolated from others (54%), felt left out (50%), or have lacked companionship (50%) often or some of the time, suggesting loneliness may have become a defining feature of life in America.

In the survey—conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of APA among more than 3,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and older—62% of U.S. adults reported societal division as a significant source of stress in their lives.

Both stressors have seen significant increases since 2024: 69% of adults cited the spread of inaccurate or misleading information as a major source of stress (up from 62%), and 57% said the same about the rise in AI (up from 49%).

Economic uncertainty was a significant factor in survey responses; more than two in five (44%) employed adults said they were concerned that an economic slump, downturn or recession would cause them to be laid off, furloughed or otherwise lose their jobs in the next 12 months.

The percentage of youth (ages 12-17) who experienced a major depressive episode (MDE) in the past year decreased from 18.10% in 2023 to 15.40% in 2024.

The percentage of youth (ages 12-17) reporting serious thoughts of suicide in the past year decreased from 12.30% of youth in 2023 to 10.10% of youth in 2024.

In 2023, 40% of high school students felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for at least two weeks in a row that they stopped doing their usual activities .

Roughly half of teens (48%) say these sites have a mostly negative effect on people their age, up from 32% in 2022.

36% of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year including 4 in 10 transgender and nonbinary young people (40%) and over a quarter of cisgender young people (26%).

62% of LGBTQ+ young people reported experiencing recent symptoms of anxiety including 65% of transgender and nonbinary young people and over half of cisgender young people (52%).

44% of LGBTQ+ young people who wanted mental health care in the past year were not able to get it .

In the 2024-2025 school year, public schools reported that on average 18% of students utilized school-based mental health services .

Additionally, 58% of schools reported that the number of students who sought school-based mental health services increased since the prior school year.

In the 2024-2025 school year, 97% of public schools reported offering at least one type of mental health service to their students.

Facts Suicide is a leading cause of death for people ages 10 and older and was responsible for 48,824 deaths in 2024.

Additionally, in 2024, an estimated 14.3 million adults seriously thought about suicide, 4.6 million planned a suicide attempt, and 2.2 million attempted suicide.

In 2024, the total age-adjusted suicide rate was 13.7 deaths per 100,000 standard population, and rates varied across states.

As a result, firearms accounted for 57% of all suicides in 2024, up from 50% in 2014, while suicides by other methods fell.

988 received 23.3 million contacts since its launch in July 2022, including 15.8 million calls, 4.2 million texts, and 3.4 million chats.

Data as of March 2026 show that demand for 988 continues to rise, with the volume of calls, texts, and chats 15% higher than a year earlier and nearly 50% higher than two years ago.

In May 2026, 26 states answered at least 90% of calls in-state, up from just 8 states before 988’s launch (Figure 2).

The share of emergency department (ED) visits for suspected suicide attempts decreased by about 7% in 2025 compared with 2021, and a separate study found that, in the years following 988’s launch, suicide deaths among people ages 15 to 34 were about 11% lower than expected if 988 had not launched.

Counseled by a mental health professional in the past 12 months 13.2 (12.4-13.9) 13.7 (12.8-14.6) 13.4 (12.1-13.9)

Did not get needed mental health care due to cost in the past 12 months 5.6 (5.2-6.0) 5.2 (4.5-5.8) 5.4 (5.0-5.8)

In 2024, 19.3% of adults took medication for their mental health and 14.0% had received counseling or therapy from a mental health professional in the past 12 months ( Figure 1 , Table 1 ).

The percentage of adults who took medication for their mental health was higher for women (24.9%) than for men (13.4%).

More than one in four Americans (28%) have talked with a mental health professional in the past year.

About one in six adults (17%) have used an AI chatbot to discuss mental health, and more than one in three (35%) would be willing to talk to an AI chatbot instead of a mental health professional if they were struggling.

In 2022-2023, 9.20% of adults with any mental illness (AMI) in the U.S. were uninsured, totaling over 5 million people.

Nationwide, an estimated 52 million nonelderly adults live with mental illness, and Medicaid covers nearly one in three (29%) of them, or about 15 million adults.

Most Recent Data: 70.2 percent (2023)

In 2023, nearly 1 in every 7 people (1.2 billion) around the world were living with a mental disorder, with anxiety and depressive disorders the most common (1) .

In 2023, an estimated 4% of the population experienced depression, including 5.2% of adults (4.1% among men and 6.2% among women), and 5.4% of adults aged 70 years and older.

In 2023, mental disorders accounted for 171 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) globally, placing these conditions as the fifth-leading cause of total disease burden.

Since 2019, the age-standardized prevalence of major depressive disorder has risen by about 24%, while anxiety disorders have increased by more than 47%, with both conditions peaking in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic.

GBD analyses estimate that only about 9% of individuals with major depressive disorder globally receive minimally adequate treatment, with less than 5% receiving adequate care in 90 countries.

Depression and anxiety alone cost the global economy an estimated US$ 1 trillion each year.

Median government spending on mental health remains at just 2% of total health budgets – unchanged since 2017.

In low-income countries fewer than 10% of affected individuals receive care, compared to over 50% in higher-income nations – highlighting an urgent need to expand access and strengthen service delivery.