According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), nearly 1 in 5 adults experience mental illness in a given year. Half of all chronic mental illnesses begin by age 14. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in 2014, 21.5 million Americans ages 12 and older had been classified with a substance use disorder in the past year. Furthermore, serious mental illness has a significant impact on the American economy, costing Americans $193.2 billion in lost earnings every year. Though awareness of mental health issues has arguably increased in recent decades, unfortunately, rates of anxiety and depression are significantly higher today than in previous eras.
