Mental Illness Costs Americans Billions In Lost Earnings

Boston (dbTechno) - According to a study by the National Institute of Mental Health, mental illnesses cost Americans billions of dollars each and every year in lost earnings alone.

Researchers looked at data from 2002, which showcased a national study of 5,000 Americans between the ages of 18 and 64-years old. Their goal was to calculate lost earnings among those who were suffering from mental illnesses.

According to reports, mental disorders are very common, as one in four adults in the U.S. suffer from one. Building on this is the fact that nearly half of all people who suffer from a mental disorder end up meeting the criteria to be suffering from two or more disorders.

These can be anything from a typical mental illness such as a mood, trouble thinking properly, problems in social environments, etc. More serious forms include things such as bipolar disorder, major depression, post traumatic stress disorder, and others.

Mental disorders are also the number one cause of disability in the U.S. and Canada for people aged 15 to 44-years old.

This ends up leading to lost earnings for many people in the U.S.

The study found that 86% of those who responded to the survey reported around $22,550 in yearly wages if they suffered from a serious mental illness.

This compared to healthy workers, who had an average income of $38,850.

Once they applied this to a national scale, they found that Americans lose $193 billion annually due to mental illnesses.