US Pharm. 2016;41(11):6.
Approximately one in five adolescents experiences mental disorders with severe impairment, and one in five adults has had mild-to-severe symptoms of mental illness in the past year. According to the 2012 National Mental Health Services Survey, 13,632 mental-health treatment facilities offered services in more than one type of setting (e.g., inpatient, residential, outpatient).
Characteristics of Mental-Health Facilities: Mental-health treatment facilities provided services to adults older than 17 years (84%) and to children aged 0 to 17 years (59.6%). Outpatient clinics (57%) have been the most frequently selected sites for mental-health treatments. General hospitals treated 9.5% of patients, and residential treatment centers for adults (10.6%) and children (6.2%) treated more mental-health patients than psychiatric hospitals did (5.2%). Of the mental-health treatment facilities that were privately operated (79%), 63% were nonprofit and 16% were for-profit organizations. State mental-health agencies operated 5% of all mental-health facilities. The proportion of state mental-health agencies was highest in the South (7%), followed by the Northeast (6%), West (3%), and Midwest (2%).
Types of Services: Seventy-three percent of mental-health services were provided at facilities that had outpatient services that operated for fewer than 24 hours per day. Around-the-clock service was provided by psychiatric emergency departments (34.1%), residential service providers (24%), and hospital inpatient facilities (16%). Approximately one-third (34%) of all mental-health treatment facilities provided psychiatric emergency walk-in services, 28% offered consumer-run (peer support) services, and 27% reported that they employed a crisis-intervention team. Ninety-nine percent of Veterans Affairs medical centers offered mental-health services for fewer than 24 hours per day, whereas 23% had 24-hour hospital inpatient services. Of all mental-health treatment facilities, 58% offered services for hearing-impaired patients, 43% provided services in a language other than English, 41% had staff members who provided services in Spanish, and 19.5% offered telemedicine therapy.
Specialized Treatments for Mental Disorders: The six most frequently treated conditions at mental-health treatment facilities included mood disorders (96%), anxiety disorders (93%), schizophrenia (84.4%), attention-deficit or conduct disorders (74.3%), eating disorders (42.8%), and autism-spectrum disorders (41.1%). Mental-health treatment facilities offered specialized programs or groups exclusively for adults with serious mental illness (46.8%), co-occurring mental and substance-abuse disorders (39.5%), posttraumatic stress disorder (26.8%), and children with serious emotional disturbance (28.4%). Specialized treatment programs have been developed for clients referred by the court or the judiciary system (17.3%), veterans (9.5%), LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning) clients (7.8%), military family members (5.3%), and active-duty military personnel (3.7%).
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