The percentage of adults with psychological distress who saw or spoke with a mental health professional has gone down every year since 2012, according to the National Center for Heath Statistics.
In 2012, almost 42% of adults aged 18-64 years who reported experiencing serious psychological distress in the previous 30 days had seen or spoken with a mental health professional in the previous 12 months. By 2015 (January through September), the percentage was down to 34.2%, and it dropped each of the 2 years between, with the trend significant at P less than .05, the NCHS reported.
For adults without psychological distress, contacts with mental health professionals were consistently around 7% for all 4 years, the NCHS noted.
In the first 9 months of 2015, 3.8% of all adults aged 18-64 years experienced serious psychological distress, compared with 3.4% in 2014, 4% in 2013, and 3.2% in 2012, according to data from the National Health Interview Survey.
