Several serious mental disorders traditionally viewed as illnesses of adulthood are more likely to begin during adolescence than any other time of life, a study by the National Institute of Mental Health has found.
The study supports the belief of many experts that greater emphasis should be placed on diagnosing and treating mental disorders among people under age 20.
"These findings underscore the importance of detecting and treating mental illnesses and substance abuse early, before they ruin a person's life," said NIMH director Lewis L. Judd. "Greater attention to mental health in childhood and adolescence could prevent a great deal of misery and economic loss nationwide."
The study provides the basis for an NIMH-sponsored public hearing today at the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The hearing is designed to focus greater attention on childhood mental disorders. Compared to research on adults with mental disorders, few studies have examined the development of problems in childhood or how to best diagnose and treat young people, according to experts.
An estimated 7.5 million people under the age of 20 are thought to have serious mental disorders--about 12% of all youths, NIMH officials report.
Experts at the hearing are expected to discuss the availability of mental health services for youths and review an NIMH plan recently submitted to Congress to increase funding for research on children and adolescents from $92.3 million this year to $283.3 million in 1995. Only one in five youths with mental disorders receives appropriate treatment, officials say.
But according to the NIMH study, published in the June issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, people under 20 are in the peak age range for developing depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders, phobias and substance abuse disorders.
"Until about the late '70s, people weren't even convinced children or adolescents could develop mental disorders," said Kimberly Christie Burke, a statistician at the NIMH and co-author of the work. "In this paper, we tried to calculate the probability of developing a disorder at a given age. We found the peak (age for developing) some disorders clearly occurs in childhood."
The probability study was based on data from a five-city NIMH survey of mental health disorders among 20,000 adults from 1980 to 1984.
