ORLANDO, Fla. – How are you doing?
In survey after survey, the answer for many in this country ranges from “I could be better” to “not at all well.”
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According to Mental Health America, 20.78% of American adults experienced mental illness in 2019-2020. That’s more than 50 million Americans.
More than 1-in-10 American young people are experiencing depression severe enough to hurt their ability to function at school, work, at home or in their social life.
Many of those Americans are not getting the help they need either. Some 54% of adults with a mental illness said they did not have treatment. Nearly 60% of youth with major depression did not get treatment.
In Florida, we may be doing better than other states in terms of the number of people with mental illness — though even one is too much. Florida’s prevalence of mental illness in adults is 17.49% — nearly 3 million Floridians — which is low compared to other states.
However, Florida also has some of the highest rates in the country of people with mental illnesses that go untreated — 58.4% of adults and 61.8% of young people in 2019-2020.
Florida ranks 46th in the country for access to care.
That’s why on Friday, Feb. 24, News 6 is devoting the day to focusing on how we are doing.
We going to shine a light on mental health and wellness in Central Florida — the struggles people are facing that lead to the need for treatment, and the struggle to get that treatment.
We are also going to talk about what help is out there, from private insurers to groups that provide help, regardless of ability to pay.
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We are offering help, too.
On Friday from 5 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., representatives from the Mental Health Association of Central Florida will be taking your phone calls and answering your questions about mental wellness, whether for you or for someone you care about. That includes crisis counselors for people who need urgent help. The number is 888-436-6665.
We’ll also answer questions in a live chat. Head HERE to share your questions now, and we will get them to a mental health professional who will answer those questions on Feb. 24.
And our coverage won’t stop there. Over the next eight weeks, we will offer a newsletter that looks at specific problems and offers solutions and resources. You can sign up for that newsletter HERE.
If you need help now, don’t wait until Feb. 24.
The mental health crisis hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Just call 988.
Or head to our website for a list of places where you can get help.
But if you have been thinking your mental wellness could use some help, or you want to help someone you care about, please join us all day on Friday, Feb. 24 as we ask the question: How Are We Doing?
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