The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced the release of the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), marking a pivotal year in understanding the trends of mental health conditions and substance use across the United States.
This year is particularly significant as it boasts four years of comparable data for key NSDUH outcomes, the first such opportunity since 2020, enabling researchers and policymakers to examine trends over time.
Dr. Art Kleinschmidt, SAMHSA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, emphasized the value of the annual NSDUH, highlighting its importance as a statistical resource for clinicians, researchers, and policymakers.
He noted, “These data are incredibly valuable to researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and others, allowing for greater understanding of the nation’s behavioral health, and to help inform actions in support of President Trump’s vision to Make America Healthy Again.”
Among adults aged 18 years or older, the findings revealed a stable prevalence of mental health issues, with 23.4% of adults (or 61.5 million people) reporting any mental illness (AMI) in the past year.
In addition, 5.6% of adults (or 14.6 million individuals) experienced serious mental illness (SMI) during the same period.
The report also highlights mental health outcomes for adolescents aged 12 to 17, revealing that in 2024, 18.8% of this age group exhibited moderate or severe symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
This included 10.6% who had moderate symptoms and 8.2% who reported severe symptoms.
It is important to note that the 2024 NSDUH is the first instance in which measures of anxiety symptoms were included, thus no prior data is available for comparison.
For adults aged 18 and over, the survey indicated that 7.4% experienced moderate or severe symptoms of GAD.
In terms of suicide risk among adolescents, the data showed a decline in serious suicidal thoughts, decreasing from 12.9% in 2021 to 10.1% in 2024, along with a reduction in the percentage of adolescents making a suicide plan (from 6.2% in 2021 to 4.6% in 2024) and those attempting suicide (from 3.6% in 2021 to 2.7% in 2024).
Moreover, there was also a notable decrease in the percentage of adolescents who had a major depressive episode in the past year, dropping from 20.8% in 2021 to 15.4% in 2024.
Moving on to substance use trends, the 2024 NSDUH reported that 58.3% of individuals aged 12 years or older engaged in current use of tobacco products, vaped nicotine, consumed alcohol, or used illicit drugs within the past month.
Among these users, 46.6% reported drinking alcohol, 16.7% reported using tobacco products, 9.6% vaped nicotine, and 16.7% used an illicit drug.
The survey also revealed that among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years who used nicotine products, a striking 71.5% exclusively vaped nicotine, while 50.3% of young adults aged 18 to 25 also did not use tobacco products.
In contrast, among adults aged 26 and over who were current nicotine users, 18% vaped nicotine exclusively, with the majority (65.6%) using only tobacco products.
The data further indicated that of the 134.3 million current alcohol users aged 12 years or older, 57.9 million (approximately 43.1%) engaged in binge drinking over the past month.
Additionally, the report highlighted decreases in past-year use of certain substances among people aged 12 or older between 2021 and 2024.
Cocaine use declined from 1.7% to 1.5%, and prescription opioid misuse also decreased from 3.0% to 2.6%.
On the other hand, the survey identified increases in the past-year use of marijuana (from 19.0% to 22.3%) and hallucinogens (from 2.7% to 3.6%) during the same timeframe.
Overall, 16.8% (or 48.4 million people) aged 12 or older reported having a past-year substance use disorder (SUD).
Interestingly, the percentage of individuals aged 12 or older with a drug use disorder rose from 8.7% in 2021 to 9.8% in 2024.
Conversely, the prevalence of alcohol use disorder among this population decreased from 10.6% in 2021 to 9.7% in 2024.
The survey also outlined that among adults aged 18 or older, 33.0% (or 86.6 million people) experienced either AMI or a SUD in the past year.
When examining treatment services, the survey found that among adolescents aged 12 to 17 with co-occurring Major Depressive Episode (MDE) and an SUD, 72.1% received either substance use treatment or mental health treatment within the past year, while 27.9% did not receive any treatment.
Among individuals aged 12 or older who required substance use treatment in 2024, approximately 19.3% (10.2 million people) accessed such services.
Notably, of the 27.9 million people aged 12 or older with a past year alcohol use disorder, only 2.5% (about 697,000 individuals) received medications for alcohol use disorder (MAUD).
Additionally, among the 4.8 million individuals aged 12 or older with a past year opioid use disorder, 17.0% (or 818,000 individuals) received medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD).
The survey also gauged the treatment of mental health issues, finding that 52.1% (or 32.0 million people) of the 61.5 million adults aged 18 or older with AMI received any mental health treatment within the past year.
Even more impressive, 70.8% (or 10.3 million individuals) of the 14.6 million adults with SMI received treatment for their condition in the same timeframe.
In terms of recovery, the survey revealed that 31.7 million adults aged 18 or older (meaning 12.2% of this demographic) felt they had previously encountered problems related to their alcohol or drug use.
Among these adults, a significant 74.3% (or 23.5 million individuals) identified themselves as being in recovery or having recovered.
Additionally, 67.8 million adults aged 18 or older (representing 26.1%) recognized that they had a mental health issue at some point, with 66.9% (or 45 million people) considering themselves to be in recovery or having recovered from that issue.
The NSDUH has been a crucial statistical tool for understanding substance use and mental health trends in the U.S. since its inception in 1971.
It measures various aspects of behavioral health, including substance use disorders, treatment access, major depressive episodes, anxiety symptoms, and recovery from mental health conditions.
If you or someone you know is in crisis or facing challenges related to mental health or substance use, support is available. You can call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org for immediate assistance.
For further information on finding assistance for mental health, alcohol, or drug issues, please visit FindSupport.gov. To locate treatment facilities or providers, go directly to FindTreatment.gov or call 800-662-HELP (4357).
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