U.S. May Rank No. 1 For Mental Illness

Update … RELATED? “USA Today leads with the escalating divorce rate in the military. It was up 78 percent last year and at more than three times the 2000 rate.” (Slate)

One-quarter of all Americans met the criteria for having a mental illness within the past year, and fully a quarter of those had a “serious” disorder that significantly disrupted their ability to function day-to-day, according to the largest and most-detailed survey of the nation’s mental health, published yesterday.


Although parallel studies in 27 other countries are not yet complete, the new numbers suggest that the United States is poised to rank No. 1 for mental illness globally, researchers said.

“We lead the world in a lot of good things, but we’re also leaders in this one particular domain that we’d rather not be,” said Ronald Kessler, the Harvard professor of health-care policy who led the effort. … (Seattle Times)


NEW: Columbia Journalism Review questions the study’s funding.