U.S. adolescents that receive nonmedication mental health services 2010-2012
Nonmedication mental health services
In the United States, 5.4 percent of adolescent boys and 3.2 percent of adolescent girls have received nonmedication mental health services for serious emotional or behavioral difficulties within the past six months from 2010 to 2012. Such behavioral and emotional difficulties are defined in the United States by characteristics such as difficulty to maintain interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers or a general mood of unhappiness or depression that negatively impacts the child’s education. These disorders can also be differentiated between internalizing disorders and externalizing disorders. A child with internalizing disorders may experience depression, or loss of interest in daily activities. Children with externalizing disorders tend to be extroverted or act out and include conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In adolescents between 12 and 19 years old in the United States, 3.2 percent have used antidepressants in the last six months and 3.2 percent have used ADHD medication.
Adolescent boys tend to be more likely than girls to have a serious emotional or behavioral difficulty and are also more likely to receive nonmedication health services. Services can be offered within school and nonschool settings in the country. About 52 percent of boys with these difficulties have received treatment or counseling within their regular schools. Within an office, clinic, or a center setting, 41.4 percent of boys and 38.2 percent of girls have received nonmedication mental health services.