In 1996, NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Grantee, David Shaffer, M.D. demonstrated that mental illness, along with other factors, such as substance abuse and prior suicide attempts, are major causes of teen suicide. His...
General Mental Illness
Brain and behavior disorders are common in the United States and internationally. An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older – about 1 in 4 adults – suffer from one or more of these disorders in a given year. Brain and behavior disorders are common among children in the United States and are increasingly being recognized and diagnosed at an early age. Just over 20 percent (or 1 in 5) children live with a debilitating mental illness.
Out of the 10 leading causes of disability identified and tracked in the United States and other developed countries; four are brain and behavior disorders: major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
It is estimated that:
- 18% of American adults will suffer from an anxiety disorder each year
- 10% of Americans adults will suffer from depression each year
- 4% of American adults will suffer from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) each year
- 4% of American adults will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder each year
- 3% of American adults will suffer from bipolar disorder each year
- 1% of American adults will suffer from schizophrenia each year
- 1% of American adults will suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) each year
- 1 in every 88 8-year-old children are diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder
(*Source: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Center for Disease Control)
David Shaffer, M.D.
February 02, 2012
January 31, 2012
From establishing early intervention techniques and working toward diagnostic tools, to proving the effectiveness of next generation therapies, to advancing basic research and our understanding of how the brain functions...
Eric R. Kandel, M.D.
January 19, 2012
Despite the halting progress, so far, in developing drugs to combat memory loss in old age, there is something profoundly uplifting about the great discovery of Dr. Kandel’s career, and it may be a legitimate source of...
Eric R. Kandel, M.D.
January 19, 2012
Imagine that you are standing on a busy city street corner and you gather together the first 100 passersby who are precisely 70 years old. “In this randomly selected group, let’s assume that men and women are equally...
Mary F. Brunette, M.D.
January 19, 2012
People with mental illness tend to smoke more than the general population. One reason that has been suggested is the self-medication effect. Research has demonstrated that if you put nicotine patches on the arms of normal...
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