I was very interested to see the recently released results from a large national survey on attitudes about mental health disorders and suicide conducted by The Harris Poll which was sponsored by the American Psychological Association (APA). (Full disclosure: I’m a member of APA and have held several governance positions. However, I had no involvement in this survey.)
The survey included 1,006 US adults, who completed a 15-minute online questionnaire. The results were “weighted by education, age, gender, race, ethnicity, geography household income, household size, and marital status to represent the US population.”
I’ll provide a brief recap of the survey results. I’ve broken down my review into two sections. First, I’ll cover “the good,” the more positive findings, along with my comments. Then I’ll go over “the not as good,” the less positive findings, again followed by some thoughts. Let me be clear that these are just my own comments about the survey, and not an official interpretation provided by The Harris Poll or the APA.
The good
87% agree that having a mental health disorder is nothing to be ashamed of
86% believe that people with mental health disorders can get better
84% believe people with mental health disorders can live normal lives
These findings are quite encouraging. A very substantial majority of the survey respondents agree that people shouldn’t be ashamed of having a mental health disorder. This also implies that it’s okay to talk about one’s mental health issues more openly. It’s also reassuring to see that a large majority believe there is hope for mental health disorders to improve over time and that people with these concerns can live normal lives.
There was an interesting finding when looking at the “nothing to be ashamed of” item across different age groups. Older adults (age 65 and above) were more likely (92%) to agree that a mental health disorder was not something to be ashamed of than 35 – 64 year-olds (89% agree) and those younger than 35 (78% agree). Perhaps younger adults have less personal experience with mental health issues and are therefore less comfortable discussing them.
Also, I think it’s worth noting that the survey used the term “mental health disorder” rather than the more commonly used terms “mental illness” or “mental disorder.” I’m not sure if a definition of the term “mental health disorder” was provided in the survey but I think it adequately conveys the notion of a specific condition that results in significant concern or distress for the individual.
81% are comfortable being friends with someone with a mental health disorder
79% are comfortable interacting with a person with a mental health disorder
These results are quite positive and show that a substantial majority are willing to have personal contact or friendly relationships with people with a mental health disorder.
91% believe people who are suicidal can be treated and go on to live successful lives
87% believe suicide can often be prevented
87% agree that people should talk about suicide more openly
84% agree that people should not be ashamed to say a loved one died by suicide
79% agree that less stigma and shame around mental health disorders would lower suicide rates
I was glad to see the survey addressed attitudes about suicide, given the steadily increasing rates of suicide over the past several years. These results show strong endorsements for being more open about suicide, as well as beliefs that suicide can often be prevented and that suicidal people can ultimately have a more fulfilling life.
59% know someone with a mental health disorder
Over half of the respondents have personal experience with someone who has a mental health disorder. This is generally encouraging, as previous studies have found that having personal exposure to someone with a mental health condition can help reduce the discomfort and negative attitudes people have about these issues.
What’s a bit puzzling to me is that the number is not higher than 59%. Given that as many as 20 to 25 percent of the US population has a mental illness (according to several large surveys), one would think that almost everyone knows at least one person with a mental health disorder. However, this finding may reflect that many people are still not open in disclosing they have a mental health concern. Also, many mental health disorders are “invisible,” meaning you can’t tell by looking at someone that they have the condition. So, you may know more people with mental health disorders than you are aware of, given they possibly haven’t told you about their mental health issues.
The not as good
86% believe the term “mental illness” carries a stigma
I’ve written extensively about stigma related to mental illness, and this finding reinforces the notion that we still have a long way to go to reduce the bias, prejudice, and discrimination directed at people who have mental illnesses.
55% feel mental illnesses are different than serious physical illnesses
This finding is a bit unclear. Does “different” mean that mental illnesses are seen as less severe than physical illnesses? Mental illnesses have been often viewed as “all in your head” or not a “real” illness, so these inaccurate beliefs could be part of how they are seen as “different” from physical illnesses.
51% are comfortable dating someone with a mental health disorder
35% are comfortable letting someone with a mental health disorder care for a child
In contrast to the findings about being comfortable interacting or being friends, these results show less comfort with other types of close relationships with someone with a mental health disorder. Only slightly more than half of the respondents would be comfortable in a dating relationship, and slightly more than one-third would be okay with having child care provided by a person with a mental health disorder.
39% said they would view someone differently if they knew that person had a mental health disorder
What’s unclear about this item is how to interpret “view someone differently.” While the more likely interpretation is that this means someone with a mental health disorder is viewed more negatively, it’s possible that one could see someone in a more positive or supportive way after learning they have such a condition. It would be helpful in future surveys to make the language more clear to more accurately assess both the positive and negative reactions of learning that someone has been experiencing a mental health disorder.
35% of young adults (18 – 34 years old) agree that most mental health disorders do not require treatment
It’s quite troubling to see over one-third of younger adults endorse the belief that mental health disorders don’t require treatment. Older adults were less likely to support this view. Only 17% of those between 35 and 64 years old agreed with this statement, and only 9% of those over the age of 65 agreed. This seems to suggest that older adults more consistently appreciate the value of receiving treatment for mental health issues. Perhaps we need to do more targeted education with younger adults to help them better understand the benefits of mental health treatment.
33% agree that people with mental health disorders scare them
Even though this belief was only endorsed by one-third of the survey respondents, that’s still a significant number. Also, it would be helpful in future surveys to explore this finding further. Does it mean that people with mental health disorders are seen as scary because they may display unusual behaviors or they are seen as unpredictable or potentially violent? It would be useful to know which specific characteristics of mental health disorders cause this sense of fear.
There’s a bit more to this finding about feeling scared by someone with a mental health disorder. If someone had never had a mental health diagnosis or known someone who did, even more (42%) were scared by someone with a mental health disorder. However, if someone had a mental health diagnosis themselves, only 27% were scared, and if they knew someone with a mental health disorder, only 28% were scared. These results suggest that personal experience with mental health issues does somewhat reduce their feelings of fear.
33% do not consider anxiety to be a mental illness
22% do not consider depression to be a mental illness
These survey results are concerning but also a bit confusing. Perhaps they suggest that milder anxiety and depression are seen as common conditions we all face from time to time rather than being described as a true illness. But this finding could also be interpreted as discounting someone’s mental health disorder by not considering it a “real” illness. It would be helpful to explore this further through more detailed follow-up surveys.
63% agree that suicide is a selfish act
30% said they would keep quiet about the cause of death if their own loved one died by suicide
It’s very disheartening to see that almost two-thirds of the respondents view suicide as selfish. This discounts or ignores the fact that the vast majority of people who die by suicide have depression or another mental health disorder and it also blames the victim. Additionally, in contrast to the very strong positive sentiments about talking more openly about suicide, almost one-third are not comfortable in discussing the death by suicide of a loved one.
As a whole, this survey provides a very useful snapshot of current attitudes toward mental health disorders and suicide. On the plus side, many believe people with mental health issues can get better and lead successful lives. Also, a large majority agree suicide can be prevented and that suicide should be talked about more openly. More discouraging findings include continued negative attitudes and fears directed toward people with mental health disorders. It would be quite illuminating to explore these issues in more depth through additional research.
Reference: APA Press Release – Survey: Americans Becoming More Open About Mental Health
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