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Mental Illnesses are Treatable

  • The treatment success rate for a first episode of schizophrenia is 60 percent, 65 to 70 percent for major depression, and 80 percent for bipolar disorder. i
  • In recent years, treatment success for those with a mental illness has increased between 60 and 80 percent, and the cost of treating mental disorders continues to decrease as more is learned about drugs that affect the central nervous system. ii
  • Two-thirds of the 44 million Americans who have diagnosable mental disorders do not seek treatment. iii Among the reasons people do not seek treatment are insufficient insurance coverage and the stigma associated with mental illness.
  • The treatments for mental illness are at least as successful as the treatments for physical illnesses such as heart disease.iv
  • Not all mental disorders diagnosed in childhood and adolescence remain into adulthood. A substantial number of children and adolescents recover from a mental illness. v
  • Often the recommended treatment for mental illnesses includes a combination of medication and psychotherapy. Other steps key to successful treatment for a severe mental illness include assertive community treatment teams, supported employment, integrated treatment for mental illness and substance abuse disorders, symptom self management (teaching patients to manage symptoms medication cannot address) and family education and support. When patients with a severe mental illness combine medicine and these other treatment options, rates of recovery greatly increase.
  • The most frequently prescribed psychotherapies are psychodynamic, interpersonal, cognitive and behavioral. vi Other types of support include self help and peer support. These therapies help the person understand themselves more fully; understand what is involved in causing the illness; recognize and change thinking patterns that are harmful or ineffective; and address specific behaviors, substituting positive behaviors for harmful or inappropriate ones.
  • Several studies have demonstrated that psychotherapy is ultimately cost-effective for patients, their families, and society. The benefits of undergoing treatment include decreased visits to other doctors' offices, diagnostic laboratories, radiology departments and hospitals for physical ailments that are based in psychological distress; reduced need for psychiatric hospitalization; lower use of sick days and disability; and increased job stability. vi
  • The treatment of mental disorders through medication, support and psychotherapy has saved the health care system a great deal of money. From 1991 to 1995, the cost of treating an episode of acute depression declined about 25 percent. Medication for schizophrenia allows many patients to be treated in the community rather than in an institution, saving $23,000 a year per patient.


    i National Mental Health Advisory Council. 1993. “Health Care Reform for Americans with Severe Mental Illnesses.” American Journal of Psychiatry 150 (10) 1450-1452.
    ii Medicines Work Coalition in Georgia. http://www.medicineswork.org/resources/roundtable.phtml
    iii Steven E. Hyler, Glen O. Gabbard, Irving Schneider. 1991. “Homicidal Maniacs and Narcissistic Parasites: Stigmatization of Mentally Ill Persons in the Movies,” Hospital and Community Psychiatry, vol. 42:10, pp. 1044-1048.
    iv Mental Health America
    v U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 1999. Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, M.D.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health.
    vi American Psychiatric Association