Drug use and mental health problems in the Unitied States for 2010

By Philip Copitch, Ph.D.

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Drug use and mental health problems

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recently released the statistics for drug use and mental health problems in the Unitied States for 2010. The numbers are staggering.

Because statistics can be very boring, I am going to limit the actual numbers in this article. But, if you want to read the whole report you can get it for free from: 

http://www.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH/2k10MH_Findings/2k10MHResults.pdf

First a small quiz…

1. What percentage of adults in America had a severe mental illness in 2010?

1%

5%

10%

25%

The answer 5 %. That equals over 11 million adults.

2. Who are more likely to have a serious mental illness, men or women?

Answer: Women are about twice as likely to have a serious mental illness.

3. True or false: In 2010, 31.3 million adults (13.7 percent of the population 18 years or older) received mental health services during the past 12 months.

Answer: True

Interesting graph:

The 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), is an annual survey of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States aged 12 years old or older.

Highlights of the report

In 2010, there were an estimated 45.9 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States with any mental illness (AMI) in the past year. This represents 20.0 percent of all adults in this country. Among adults aged 18 or older in 2010, the percentage having serious mental illness (SMI) in the past year was 5.0 percent (11.4 million adults). 

• Women aged 18 or older were more likely than men aged 18 or older to have past year AMI (23.0 vs. 16.8 percent) and SMI (6.5 vs. 3.4 percent). 
• In 2010, an estimated 8.7 million adults (3.8 percent) aged 18 or older had serious thoughts of suicide in the past year. Among adults aged 18 or older, 2.5 million (1.1 percent) made suicide plans in the past year, and 1.1 million (0.5 percent) attempted suicide in the past year. 
• Among the 45.9 million adults aged 18 or older with AMI in the past year, 20.0 percent (9.2 million adults) met criteria for substance dependence or abuse in that period compared with 6.1 percent (11.2 million adults) among those who did not have mental illness in the past year. Among the 11.4 million adults aged 18 or older with SMI in the past year, 25.2 percent also had past year substance dependence or abuse compared with 6.1 percent of adults who did not have mental illness. 
• In 2010, 31.3 million adults (13.7 percent of the population 18 years or older) received mental health services during the past 12 months. 
• Among the 45.9 million adults aged 18 or older with AMI in 2010, 17.9 million (39.2 percent) received mental health services in the past year. Among the 11.4 million adults aged 18 or older with SMI in 2010, 6.9 million (60.8 percent) received mental health services in the past year. 
• Among the 2.9 million adults aged 18 or older in 2010 with both SMI and substance dependence or abuse in the past year, 64.0 percent received substance use treatment at a specialty facility or mental health treatment in that period. Included in the 64.0 percent are 14.5 percent who received both mental health treatment and specialty substance use treatment, 45.0 percent who received mental health treatment only, and 4.3 percent who received specialty substance use treatment only. 
• In 2010, there were 1.9 million youths (8.0 percent of the population aged 12 to 17) who had major depressive episode (MDE) during the past year. Among youths aged 12 to 17 in 2010 who had past year MDE, 37.2 percent used illicit drugs in the past year compared with 17.8 percent among youths who did not have past year MDE. 
• In 2010, 2.9 million youths aged 12 to 17 (12.2 percent) received treatment or counseling for problems with emotions or behavior in a specialty mental health setting (inpatient or outpatient care). The most common reason for receiving specialty mental health services among youths was feeling depressed (47.6 percent). 

http://www.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH/2k10MH_Findings/2k10MHResults.pdf

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Results from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Findings, NSDUH Series H-42, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 11-4667. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2012.

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Living to 100: New Research

So you want to live to 100?

Those of you who have been reading my blog for some time know that I do not put much stock into vitamin pills and new age "live forever diets." I read this study and thought you needed to know about it.


Researches reported in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society showed how important good genes are to living to 100.

When they looked at extremely old folks (95 and older) and compared them to old folks that died before 95, they found that both groups of people had lots of bad habits. Many of them smoked and lots were overweight. Which brings us back to the importance of good genes over over snake oil sellers with new live forever diets.

I know some of you will still be skeptical: Read the report!

Forgetting why you went into the other room

 Doorways and memory loss


Comedian Bill Cosby tells a great story of looking for his glasses. He looked all over the living room then walked into another room to look there. Once in the other room, he can't remember why he went into that room in the first place. If I recall correctly he blamed the whole mess on his kids driving him crazy. 


Researcher Gabriel A. Radvansky and colleagues at the University of Notre Dame conducted an experiment to see if the act of walking through a doorway actually decreases ones memory. (Published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology in 2011: show me the article.)


Their findings showed that the process of walking through a doorway did in fact lower experimental subjects short term memory. Subjects that walked through a doorway did much worse than subjects that walked the same distance without passing through a doorway. The research indicated that the act of going through a doorway compartmentalizes one's memory into separate activities weakening memory access to what was just learned in the previous room.


Least I forget, Bill Cosby was looking for his reading glasses that traveled with him from room to room perched on his head.


A few books on memory improvement that I recommend to my patients. Helpful, but they do take work. You have to learn how to improve your memory:

       

What are negative emotions and rough handling of their infants

Dr. Phil,

I learn a lot from your blog and I have read your parenting book. I read your blog Aggressive Behavior in Toddlers, but I do not know what you mean by "negative emotions towards their infants and rough handling of their infants."

Thanks, Lilly, S.F. CA

Great question, Lilly, thanks.

Yesterday I was at lunch, looking forward to reading the latest gadget article for all things Apple computer. A few tables over I observed a mom and grandmother eating lunch with a 3 year old and an 18 month old. What I observed were "negative emotions towards their infants and rough handling of their infants."

The three year old was in a high chair reaching and grabbing as the food came to the table.  As he strained to reach for a french fry, his mom gently slapped his hand and said, "I told you in the car if you can't be a good boy you're going to get a spanking."

Over the next 15 minutes, while I finished my lunch, I observed the mom and the grandmother talking to each other in a friendly manner. When either adult was interrupted by a child, they growled softly at the child and said stern things to them.

"Stop doing that, you're acting like a little snot."
"You never listen to me."
"You're being a brat."

The 3 year old seemed unaware of anything the adults were saying. He seemed used to it. I saw his hand get gently slapped 5 times. Of note I did not see either adult talk to or with the children only at the children.

Over time, I can see how this type of parenting can lead to these children showing aggressive behaviors in school.

Aggressive Behavior in Toddlers

By Philip Copitch, Ph.D.

A new study gives us insight into aggressive behavior in toddlers. Researchers from the University of Minnesota looked into the relationship moms have with their newborns and how it influences their behavior in preschool.

Michael F. Lorber, the lead researcher said in a press release, “Before the study, we thought it was likely the combination of difficult infant temperament and negative parenting that put parent-child pairs most at risk for conflict in the toddler period, and then put the children at risk for conduct problems at school age. However, our findings suggest that it was negative parenting in early infancy that mattered most.” 

The researchers looked at over 260 mother-infant pairs following them through first grade. Each infant was evaluated for temperament during their first week of life and again at about 6 months. When the children were in kindergarten and first grade, their mothers and teachers were surveyed concerning the child's behaviors at home and in the classroom. 

The result of the longitudinal study suggests that the children who were aggressive and explosive in kindergarten and first grade tended to have disorganized and angry relationships with their mothers. Mothers who showed negative emotions towards their infants and rough handling of their infants, more often had children who were aggressive and defiant in kindergarden and first grade.

Over time...

The study showed that over time the behaviors of the children got more aggressive and defiant leading to more negative parenting from the parent. This study suggests a cycle of turbulent family behaviors leading to children having a harder time when they start school.

“The results of our study move beyond descriptive findings to explain the underlying process linking how mothers parent their children in infancy and the problems children have in early elementary school,” Lorber pointed out.

Parenting is a learned behavior. This study shows the importance of parents learning how to parent in non aggressive ways.

Does Mt. Dew shrink your penis?

By Philip Copitch, Ph.D.

Dear Dr. Phil,

There is a rumor going around my school that Mt. Dew will shrink your penis. Is this true? If so how come they can legally sell this product?

Paul, Central Valley High, Redding CA.

Does Mt. Dew shrink your penis?

The simple answer is NO!

I am glad that you used the word "rumor" in your question. It seems that you were suspicious.

The problem with rumors is that if they are repeated often enough, they start to seem like old information. Tell the rumor several more times, and it starts to sound like a fact.

Similar rumors have to do with Mt. Dew lowering sperm count and/or shrinking testicles. All bull honkey!

When you come across a rumor, question its authority. Who is telling you this and why? Are there credible facts that can be verified? Is the rumor logical? Personally I like to ask, "Something that important should have facts to prove it, can you show me the facts?"  Statements like, "Everyone knows it," or "My social studies teacher said it," are not facts. 

For more information about this particular rumor see: snopes.com: Mountain Dew Shrinks Testicles

For more information about critical thinking see: The Importance of Teaching Critical Thinking

A few facts about Mt. Dew:

Energy	110 kcal
Carbohydrate, by difference	31 g
Sugars, total	31 g
Sodium, Na	50 mg

Dr. Phil's opinion about Mt. Dew

Overall Mt. Dew is liquid candy and should be consumed like a treat. It is very high is sugar, salt, and caffeine. It has no nutritional benefits. I personally like the taste of it. Enjoy it sparingly such as on your birthday, Christmas, and D&D all nighters.

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