ROBERT PEAR
New York Times Syndicate - December 12, 1999
WASHINGTON One in every five Americans experiences a mental disorder in any
given year, and half of all Americans have such disorders at some time in their
lives, but most of them never seek treatment, the surgeon general of the United
States says in a comprehensive new report.
Many people with mental disorders do not
realize that effective treatments exist, or they fear discrimination because of
the stigma attached to mental illness, the study found. And, it said, many
people cannot afford treatment because they lack insurance that would cover it.
After reviewing hundreds of studies, the
report concludes that ``a range of effective treatments exist for nearly all
mental disorders,'' including the most severe. The report's principal
recommendation is to ``seek help if you experience symptoms of mental illness.''
The report is to be issued at the White House
on Monday by the surgeon general, Dr. David Satcher, the government's leading
spokesman on matters of public health.
Satcher's report finds a huge gap between the
need for mental health services and their availability.
One of the report's major themes is that
mental health must be part of mainstream health care, not an afterthought or an
offshoot.
The report says that ``22 percent of the
population has a diagnosable mental disorder,'' and that ``mental illness,
including suicide, is the second leading cause of disability,'' after heart
disease.
But, it says, ``nearly two-thirds of all
people with diagnosable mental disorders do not seek treatment.'' The report is
significant because it meticulously analyzes huge amounts of data and puts the
imprimatur of the government on the findings, just as the surgeon general's
report on smoking and health did in 1964.
Mental disorders are defined in the report as
health conditions marked by alterations in thinking, mood or behavior that cause
distress or impair a person's ability to function. They include Alzheimer's
disease, depression, attention-deficit or hyperactivity disorder and phobias.
The report says people are deterred from
seeking treatment for mental disorders because they have no health insurance,
their insurance does not adequately cover the costs or they have an
``unwarranted sense of hopelessness'' about the prospects for recovery.
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