Study- Mental disorders less common

A new study suggests that mental disorders may be less prevalent among adults in the United States than previously thought.

Two large surveys that for years have been used to determine the need for mental health treatment may have overestimated the prevalence of mental and addictive disorders, according to the study published in February's Archives of General Psychiatry.

The older surveys suggest that in a given year almost 30 percent of U.S. adults experience mental and addictive disorders, with nearly 50 percent needing mental health services in their lifetime. That data comes from the National Institute of Mental Health Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program (1980-85), and the National Comorbidity Survey (1990-92).

"When people look at numbers that say close to 30 percent of the American public has a mental disorder and therefore needs treatment, most would say that is implausibly too high," said the study's lead author, Dr. William E. Narrow, director of the psychopathology program at the American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education.

Researchers in Narrow's study re-evaluated both surveys' data to determine if respondents had talked to a professional, taken medication for their symptoms or their symptoms interfered substantially with their life. The previous surveys assumed that if a person had symptoms, treatment was needed, the researchers said.