Your overall well-being is influenced by your finances, relationships, job, sense of purpose, and security, but where you live and the local health care system also play a role. In an analysis released last month, online pharmacy Universal Drugstore ranked the best and worst states to live in in terms of mental health after evaluating dozens of data points, including prevalence of mental illness and treatment costs. did.
Montana was ranked number one as the best place to live for mental health with a score of 8.06 out of 10. The state had the lowest percentage of the population of mentally unhealthy adults who cannot afford care, and the second-lowest percentage of residents with mental health conditions. Days of 2022.
In contrast, Nevada ranks as the worst state for mental health with a score of 2.06 out of 10. The Silver State ranks in the top five on several measures, including the highest number of mental health sick days and the highest number of young people reporting depressive episodes. Nevada also has one of the lowest ratios of psychologists to residents in the nation.
Breaking down further, South Dakota, ranked #4 as the best state for mental health, reported the fewest mental health sick days (3 days), while West Virginia and Louisiana ranked #34 and #44. The state reported the most (6 days). Adults living in New Jersey, which ranked 16th, had the lowest rate of diagnosed mental illness (16%), and adults living in Utah, which ranked 25th, had the highest rate of diagnosed mental illness (27%). Oregon, ranked 50th, ranks second-worst in mental health with a score of 2.89 out of 10 and ranks 42nd with the highest percentage of youth experiencing a depressive episode (19%) in the country. tied with New Mexico. The lowest is Washington, DC (11%). D.C., ranked 13th, also has the highest rate of psychologists, compared to Alabama, Maine, Georgia, and Louisiana, which have 7 per 100,000 people.
Researchers created the rankings using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Kaiser Family Foundation, Mental Health America, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Researchers compared each state’s ratio of psychologists to residents, average number of mental health sick days, prevalence of mental illness among adults and youth, number of available beds and mental health facilities, and prescription drug costs. did.
Worst state to live in for mental health:
- nevada
- Oregon
- oklahoma
- arizona
- Washington
- texas
- Alabama
- louisiana
- georgia
- new mexico
Best states to live in for mental health:
- montana
- vermont state
- Massachusetts
- south dakota
- rhode island
- illinois
- wisconsin
- north dakota
- Nebraska and Iowa (tied)
- arkansas
