Mental health and substance use insurance claims more than double in last decade

Insurance claims for mental health and substance use conditions have more than doubled in the last decade, a new report found. And the increase is driven largely by teens and young adults.

Reported rates of depression and anxiety among Americans have been increasing in recent years, with the most prominent growth seen among youth. More children, teens, and young adults are going to hospital emergency rooms for psychiatric concerns, including self-injury, like cutting. Suicide rates are also up, with rates of self-poisoning particularly surging among teenage girls.

At the same time, the nation has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic. More than 72,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2017 — double the number a decade earlier, the report states.

Experts caution that the rising rates of mental illness and substance use could be the result of different data collection methods, and not a true indicator of change. Reduced stigma might lead people to report their conditions more accurately today than in the past, they say.

Read more at the Inquirerer