Mental and Substance Use Disorders Prevalence Study

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2019 Mental and Substance Use Disorders Prevalence Study. In 2017, an estimated 35.4 million adults (14.3 percent) in U.S. households had mental illness in the past year and 18.7 million had a substance use disorder while 8.5 million had both a mental and substance use disorder (co-occurring disorders). Of those with a mental illness, 11.2 million adults (24.0 percent) had serious functional impairment (serious mental illness [SMI]) that interfered with or limited one or more major life activities. Only 33% of those living with SMI received the care they needed. These data highlight that mental illness, particularly SMI, is a significant public health problem with substantial unmet treatment needs in the United States. However, current surveillance systems leave several gaps in the understanding of these issues. These gaps focus on two vital areas: lack of an accurate estimate of the numbers of Americans affected by the most seriously impairing disorders (e.g., psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, severe affective disorders including major depression and bipolar disorder) and lack of the inclusion of critical populations who do not reside in households, e.g., homeless, institutionalized, or incarcerated populations in these estimates for mental and substance use disorders. The purpose of this grant program is to ensure that these gaps in surveillance are addressed through a pilot program which assists in estimating the actual number of individuals living with mental and substance use disorders, including those of the greatest severity.