By definition, mental illness includes a range of mental disorders that affects a person’s moods, thoughts and behaviors. Though many people experience bouts of depression or moodiness from time to time according to life circumstances, for many more normal life becomes too much to handle through the fog of emotions. Such “simple” or ordinary things such as getting out of bed in the morning, going to work and being productive at work can become impossible.
People whose lives are negatively affected by mental illness, whether or not they realize it, can experience loss of productivity at work, loss of pay from taking days off and even their jobs due to absenteeism or lack of productivity. Mental illness doesn’t just affect the person who has it, but it can also have a negative psychological and economical impact on a person’s family as well.
Breaking down the Costs of Mental Illness
Mental illness isn’t like a physical ailment that has a definite cause or effect on a person’s body that’s measurable by a medical scan or X-ray. The cause and effects of mental illness are often much more difficult to nail down and may only appear under certain circumstances – which is often why such conditions are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.
Physical illnesses often have specific costs associated with particular diagnostic tests and medications usually taken over a short period of time. That is not the case with mental illness. While one form of treatment may work for one person, it may not work for someone else and sometimes a combination of therapies is needed. Mental illness is also something that will be dealt with on a life-long basis. It never goes away, it just becomes manageable, so loss of income or productivity may be an ongoing issue and the symptoms can resurface.
It is also difficult to measure exactly what impact mental illness has on families. There are psychological and financial stresses associated with looking after a person with a mental condition and accompanying them to medical appointments; these all involve aspects of a person’s life to which it is difficult to assign a dollar value. Mental illness costs, treatment and diagnosis are further complicated by the fact that there is often more than one factor present. More and more evidence is showing that mental illness and substance abuse cycle off one another and must be treated together for the best result. Still, many patients are misdiagnosed and, subsequently, miss out on the optimum treatment plan. Other patients simply do not have the financial means to be evaluated and receive the help they need and end up living on the streets.
The Economic Impact of Mental Illness
The following list of statistics and facts from the Florida Council for Community Mental Health paints a bleak picture of the impact of mental illness on society, and challenges policy makers and employers to address mental illness more effectively.
• “Clinical depression has become one of America’s most costly illnesses. Left untreated, depression is as costly as heart disease or AIDS to the U.S. economy, costing over $43.7 billion in absenteeism from work…lost productivity and direct treatment costs…
• “The World Health Organization has reported that four of the 10 leading causes of disability in the U.S. and other developed countries are mental disorders. By 2020, Major Depressive Illness will be the leading cause of disability in the world for women and children….
• “The aggregate yearly cost of mental disorders in the U.S. accounted for approximately 2.5% of the gross national product….
• “The overall U.S. cost of schizophrenia in 2002 was estimated to be $62.7 billion, with $22.7 billion excess direct health care costs…. The total indirect excess costs were estimated to be $32.4 billion…”
For more information on the economic impact and prevalence of mental illness visit the links below.
Sources: Mayo Clinic (www.mayoclinic.com); The American Journal of Psychiatry (http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org); Florida Council for Community Mental Health (http://fccmh.org)