SAMHSA: Promoting Recovery and Independence for Older Adolescents and Young Adults Who Experience Serious Mental Health Challenges.

摘要

The transition to adulthood can be a difficult process as older adolescents and young adults begin to establish their future educational plans, careers, living situations, relationships, and roles in the community. This journey usually begins around age 16 and often extends until the mid to late 20s, which marks a critical developmental period when older adolescents and young adults must increasingly depend upon their own capacities to become more self-sufficient as they work toward independence. Nearly 20 percent of young adults, aged 18-25 living in U.S. households, had a mental health condition in the past year, and of these, more than 1.3 million had a disorder so serious that their ability to function was compromised. More than a third of those 1.3 million young adults also had a substance use disorder. Compared with their peers, these young people were more likely to experience homelessness, be arrested, drop out of school, and be unemployed. Of all long-lasting health conditions, mental health disorders produce the greatest disability within this age group. Furthermore, 18- to 25-year-olds with mental health conditions are significantly less likely to receive mental health services as compared with other adults.