Also among adults aged 18 or older in 2019, 19.5 percent (or 48.5 million people) perceived that they ever had a what is the best treatment for substance abuse for older adults problem with their mental health (Table A.6B and 2019 DT 6.32), which was higher than the percentage in 2018 (17.7 percent). Among adults aged 18 or older in 2019 who had a co-occurring SUD and AMI in the past year, 1.9 percent (or 182,000 people) received only substance use treatment at a specialty facility (2019 DT 10.27). This percentage in 2019 was lower than the percentages in 2015 and 2017 but was similar to the percentages in 2016 and 2018.
Daily Cigarette Use
- Inpatient or residential specialty mental health services in which adolescents stayed overnight or longer include services in a hospital or a residential treatment center.
- Among young adults aged 18 to 25 in 2019, 1.7 percent (or 577,000 people) used inhalants in the past year (Figure 17 and 2019 DT 7.11).
- Among adolescents aged 12 to 17 in 2019, 0.7 percent (or 172,000 people) received any substance use treatment in the past year (Figure 65 and 2019 DT 7.51).
- So, there’s been this intentional focus that shifted toward including more of a harm reduction approach instead of primarily focusing on prevention alone.
- This report is based on data from 67,625 completed interviews from 2019 NSDUH respondents aged 12 or older.
This percentage in 2019 was similar to the percentages in most years from 2008 through 2018. Among the 2.9 million young adults aged 18 to 25 in 2019 with past year SMI (2019 DT 10.3), 62.5 percent (or 1.8 million people) perceived an unmet need for mental health services in the past year (Figure 78 and 2019 DT 10.23). This percentage in 2019 was higher than the percentages in most years from 2008 through 2018.
Tobacco Use in the Past Month
Among young adults aged 18 to 25, the percentage who were past year illicit drug users increased from 37.5 percent in 2015 to 39.1 percent in 2019 (Figure 11 and 2019 DT 7.11). However, the percentage of young adults in 2019 who were past year illicit drug users was similar to the percentages in 2016 to 2018. Among people aged 12 to 20, the percentage who were past month alcohol users in 2019 was lower than the percentages in 2002 through 2015, but it was similar to the percentages in 2016 through 2018 (2019 DT 7.16). The percentage who were past month binge alcohol users in 2019 was lower than the percentage in 2015, but it was similar to the percentages in 2016 through 2018. The percentage who were past month heavy alcohol users in 2019 was lower than the percentages in 2015 and 2016, but it was similar to the percentages in 2017 and 2018.
The Statistics: Drug Abuse is Common but Treatment is Not
- This percentage in 2019 was similar to the percentage in each year from 2009 to 2017, but it was higher than the percentage in 2018.
- Specifically, 37.0 percent of people who misused pain relievers in the past year obtained pain relievers the last time by getting them from a friend or relative for free, 9.2 percent bought their last pain reliever from a friend or relative, and 4.6 percent took their last pain reliever from a friend or relative without asking.
- Since 2018, respondents aged 18 or older have been asked whether they thought they ever had a problem with their use of alcohol or other drugs or whether they ever had a problem with their mental health.
The number of adolescents in 2019 who initiated cigarette smoking in the past year averaged to about 1,500 adolescents each day (Table A.3A). Among people aged 12 or older in 2019, 1.6 million people initiated cigarette smoking in the past 12 months (i.e., and never before the past 12 months) (Figure 26), which was lower than the number in most years from 2002 through 2018 (2019 DT 7.40). The number of people aged 12 or older in 2019 who initiated cigarette smoking in the past year averaged to about 4,400 people each day (Table A.3A). Among adolescents aged 12 to 17, the percentage who were past year cocaine users decreased from 2.1 percent (or 508,000 people) in 2002 to 0.4 percent (or 97,000 people) in 2019 (Figure 13 and 2019 DT 7.5).
Report on the topic
Among young adults aged 18 to 25, the percentage who misused prescription tranquilizers or sedatives in the past year declined from 5.7 percent (or 2.0 million people) in 2015 to 4.2 percent (or 1.4 million people) in 2019 (Figure 19 and 2019 DT 7.11). Among adults aged 26 or older, the percentage who were past year illicit drug users increased from 14.6 percent (or 30.3 million people) in 2015 to 18.3 percent (or 39.7 million people) in 2019 (Figure 11 and 2019 DT 7.14). The trend in past year illicit drug use among adults aged 26 or older appears to be driven by the trend in marijuana use among these adults (see the section on Marijuana Use).