Ranking the States 2018

Overall Ranking

A high overall ranking indicates lower prevalence of mental illness and higher rates of access to care. A low overall ranking indicates higher prevalence of mental illness and lower rates of access to care. The combined scores of all 15 measures make up the overall ranking.  The overall ranking includes both adult and youth measures as well as prevalence and access to care measures. 

The 15 measures that make up the overall ranking include:

  1. Adults with Any Mental Illness (AMI)
  2. Adults with Dependence or Abuse of Illicit Drugs or Alcohol (Marijuana, Heroin, Cocaine)
  3. Adults with Serious Thoughts of Suicide
  4. Youth with At Least one Past Year Major Depressive Episode (MDE)
  5. Youth with Alcohol Dependence and Illict Drugs Use (Marijuana, Heroin, Cocaine)
  6. Youth with Severe MDE
  7. Adults with AMI who Did Not Receive Treatment
  8. Adults with AMI Reporting Unmet Need
  1. Adults with AMI who are Uninsured
  2. Adults with Disability who Could Not See a Doctor Due to Costs
  3. Youth with MDE who Did Not Receive Mental Health Services
  4. Youth with Severe MDE who Received Some Consistent Treatment
  5. Children with Private Insurance that Did Not Cover Mental or Emotional Problems
  6. Students Identified with Emotional Disturbance for an Individualized Education Program
  7. Mental Health Workforce Availability

 

                                      

Adult Ranking

States with high rankings have lower prevalence of mental illness and higher rates of access to care for adults. Lower rankings indicate that adults have higher prevalence of mental illness and lower rates of access to care.

The 7 measures that make up the Adult Ranking include:

  1.  Adults with Any Mental Illness (AMI)
  2.  Adults with Alcohol Dependence and Illicit Drugs Use (Marijuana, Heroin, and Cocaine)
  3.  Adults with Serious Thoughts of Suicide
  4.  Adults with AMI who Did Not Receive Treatment
  5.  Adults with AMI Reporting Unmet Need
  6.  Adults with AMI who are Uninsured
  7.  Adults with Disability Who Could Not See a Doctor Due to Costs

Youth Ranking

States with high rankings have lower prevalence of mental illness and higher rates of access to care for youth. Lower rankings indicate that youth have higher prevalence of mental illness and lower rates of access to care.

The 7 measures that make up the Youth Ranking include:

  1.  Youth with At Least One Past Year Major Depressive Episode (MDE)
  2.  Youth with Alcohol Dependence and Illicit Drugs Use (Marijuana, Heroin, Cocaine)
  3.  Youth with Severe MDE
  4.  Youth with MDE who Did Not Receive Mental Health Services
  5.  Youth with Severe MDE who Received Some Consistent Treatment
  6.  Children with Private Insurance that Did Not Cover Mental or Emotional Problems
  7.  Students Identified with Emotional Disturbance for an Individualized Education Program.

Prevalence of Mental Illness

The scores for the six prevalence and nine access to treatment measures make up the Prevalence and Access to Care Ranking. 

The 6 measures that make up the Prevalence Ranking include:

  1. Adults with Any Mental Illness (AMI)
  2. Adults with Alcohol Dependence and Illicit Drugs Use (Marijuana,Heroin, Cocaine)
  3. Adults with Serious Thoughts of Suicide
  4. Youth with At Least One Past Year Major Depressive Episode (MDE)
  5. Youth with Alcohol Dependence and Illicit Drugs Use (Marijuana,Heroin, Cocaine)
  6. Youth with Severe MDE.

A high ranking on the Prevalence Ranking indicates a lower prevalence of mental health and substance use issues. States that rank 1-10 have lower rates of mental health and substance use problems compared to states that ranked 42-51.

Access to Care Ranking

The Access Ranking indicates how much access to mental health care exists within a state. The access measures include access to insurance, access to treatment, quality and cost of insurance, access to special education, and workforce availability. A high Access Ranking indicates that a state provides relatively more access to insurance and mental health treatment.

The 9 measures that make up the Access Ranking include:

  1.  Adults with AMI who Did Not Receive Treatment
  2.  Adults with AMI Reporting Unmet Need
  3. Adults with AMI who are Uninsured
  4.  Adults with Disability who Could Not See a Doctor Due to Costs
  5.  Youth with MDE who Did Not Receive Mental Health Services
  6.  Youth with Severe MDE who Received Some Consistent Treatment
  7.  Children with Private Insurance that Did Not Cover Mental or Emotional Problems
  8.  Students Identified with Emotional Disturbance for an Individualized Education Program
  9.  Mental Health Workforce Availability