1.5 million Americans with mental illness misused opioids last year
1.5 million Americans with mental illness misused opioids last year - Of these two groups, 1.5 million of them, ages 18 and up with an SMI, misused opioids within the past year. This particular group represents 0.6 percent of all adults in the United States. “It’s really important to understand the nature and the number of people that are impacted, and how severe of a problem is it nationally,” said Dr. Anita Everett, a community psychiatrist and chief medical officer at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. “It’s also important to know this [information] because it helps us target treatment for individuals.”