SAN FRANCISCO, April 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent poll has highlighted an alarming trend: a staggering 90% of Americans feel we are in a mental health crisis. While Mental Health Month in May seeks to build awareness across America about the importance of treating mental health conditions, the country is seeing a steady increase in reported depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders. Meanwhile, treatment options are far from sufficient to meet the country's needs, especially in lower income communities.
Future Health, a company dedicated to improving access and quality of mental health care and parent company of Done, an online ADHD treatment service, is hoping Mental Health Month in May will help drive more attention towards solutions to these problems and help people struggling with mental help find the care they need.
While much of life in American life has returned to pre-pandemic normalcy, there are still lingering effects from the pandemic on mental health including an increased proportion of adults reporting symptoms of anxiety or depression rising from 36.4% to 41.5%.
A rise in substance use has also been associated with the pandemic as 15% of adults in the U.S. reported starting or increasing substance use to cope with pandemic stressors. Overdose deaths reached nearly 108,000 for the 12 months ending in December 2021, marking a nearly 50% increase from 2019. Meanwhile, suicide rates rose 4% in 2021 over the previous year. Among 15- to 24-year-olds, the increase was 8%.
While it's too early to gage the long-term implications of this spike in mental health disorders, the short-term impacts have been lasting and the country is still grappling with shortages of affordable treatment options. Many people with struggling with mental illness are also reluctant to seek care because of the associated stigma, the trouble and costs involved, or are unaware of how to find help. In fact, by 2022, 56% of adults with a mental illness received no treatment, amounting to over 27 million individuals.
It was out of these deteriorating mental health conditions during the pandemic that Future Health launched Done 2021, offering online and hybrid treatment solutions for ADHD. "The need for more personalized and accessible mental health treatment in the US is staggering," noted Joanne Dai, Group Leader from the Future Health General Management Office."We saw the best way to address these problems quickly was through technology, making psychiatric and psychological care become accessible, inclusive, and personalized."
In the span of just 1 year, Future Health has served hundreds of thousands of patients. Future Health's offerings allow greater access to mental health treatment through its online platforms instead of more costly, time consuming, and often stigmatizing in-person consultations.
Last year Future Health also launched its revolutionary new AI-powered treatment platform, Olivia, tailored to help significantly increase mental health treatment to lower income communities. Olivia's more comprehensive knowledge base also allows for more personalized and accurate assessment and treatment of mental illnesses.
These online services from Future Health have led to a 34% increase in treatment response rate, over $3,000 in annual patient savings, and an average of 11 hours saved per patient care each year versus traditional in-person treatment.
"Mental Health Awareness Month is all about helping people that are struggling find help. Just as every person is different, every treatment option should be different as well, and our online services help make that possible," continued Joanne Dai of Future Health. "This month we want more people to know there are convenient and anonymous treatment options out there. We are here to help."
Mental Health Awareness Month was established in 1949 to increase awareness of the importance of mental health and wellness in Americans' lives and to celebrate recovery from mental illness.