The National Alliance on Mental Illness is an excellent source of general information on mental health in the United States for those looking to deepen their knowledge about mental illness and its impact on Americans.
The organization, which describes itself as envisioning “a world where all people affected by mental illness live healthy, fulfilling lives supported by a community that cares,” provides education, support and advocacy work on mental health issues.
As part of this work, NAMI offers statistics on the state of mental health in all 50 states to help arm residents with information they can use when speaking to their local representatives.
In Massachusetts, for example, 1,034,000 residents have a mental health condition, according to NAMI, a number that is six times the population of Worcester.
Mental illness also begins at a young age in the state with 50 percent of illnesses manifesting by age 14 and 75 percent by age 24.
Sadly, NAMI statistics also show 294,816 Massachusetts residents live in a mental health professional shortage area.
Learn more about Massachusetts stats here and remember that while this data can be a powerful tool to help drive change, a personal story about how mental illness has impacted your life told to your state rep, can be even more powerful. Consider making that call or writing a letter today.
