Mental health facilities by type of facility in the U.S. 2018

Mental health facilities are critically important for treating those with acute and chronic mental health disorders. In the U.S. outpatient facilities made up a majority of the facilities available with 4,665 such facilities in 2018. Psychiatric hospitals were much less prevalent across the U.S. that year with just 692 facilities in total. There are many mental health conditions and many types of treatment options available in the United States, with hospitalization being just one of many options.

Mental health in the U.S.

There are several mental health conditions present in adult populations such as depression, anxiety disorder, PTSD, and bipolar disorder among others. Depression is a common mental condition that affects millions of people every year. Symptoms of depression include feelings of sadness, having trouble falling asleep and feeling tired most of the time. Most recent estimates suggest that about 7.4 percent of the U.S. adult population has depression. Anxiety is another common mental health condition seen in U.S. adults and is characterized by feeling on-edge, being irritable, and having difficulty controlling feelings of worry. About 6.64 percent of the U.S. adult population suffers from some anxiety disorder.

Mental health conditions and treatment options

There are many treatment options available for people that have mental health conditions including hospitalization, therapy, or medications. People suffering from eating disorders, schizophrenia and bipolar disorders had the longest hospital stays among people that were treated with impatient hospitalization. Another treatment option is prescription drugs. In general, the usage of prescription antidepressant drugs has increased over time in the U.S. Some people may choose to see a health professional to help treat their depression. The largest proportion of people that saw a health professional about their depression saw their general practitioner or psychiatrist/psychotherapist.