Mental Health

Jump to another page... Introduction Chronic depression Leisure time physical activity Percent of individuals sought help for mental health Binge drinking Chronic Drinking (60+ drinks/month average) Average days with poor mental health Routine annual checkups Affective disorder hospitalization rate Schizophrenia hospitalization rate Age-adjusted mortality for suicide Years of potential life lost (YPLL) due to suicide

Average days with poor mental health

Mental disorders and symptoms can cause great distress. People with mental illness sometimes have difficulty maintaining their daily activities often affecting work life. In general, individuals lost an average of just below four workdays due to poor mental health in 2002.The number increased to four workdays in Bexar County during the period 2004-2005 because of illness. While this is a modest increase in number, it represents a notable decrease in productivity across the county.

The East and Northeast report 5.1 and 4.9 average workdays lost per individual due to poor mental health respectively. The West and North Central both report approximately four days of work missed due to illness. The South sector of the county missed three workdays and Northwest missed more than three days. A work life is an important indicator for the well being of the community. Healthy People 2010 have set goals for increasing employment of people with serious mental illness to reflect this importance. The Healthy People 2010 goal is to increase the proportion of persons aged 18 years and older with serious mental illness who are employed to 54 percent.

Routine annual checkups

Good physical health contributes to good mental health. Regular medical checkups can detect mental issues. In 2005, 63 percent of adults in Texas and Harris County indicated they had seen a physician in the past year. Sixty-six percent of Bexar County adults reported having a medical checkup in the past year. This is a decrease from 80 percent of Bexar County adults who reported checkups in 2002. The BRFSS sample size for this indicator to too small to estimate rates for sectors^β. In south Bexar County the number of adults reporting routine checkups dropped from 80 percent in 2002 to 63 percent in 2005. In the northern sectors of Bexar County the rate dropped from 80 percent in 2002 to 67 percent in 2005. It is possible that there is not a significant difference between the north and south sectors (sampling error is ± 4 percent), however the 13 to 17 drop in routine care is statistically significant.

Affective disorder hospitalization rate

Affective disorders include depression, bipolar disorder, and mood disorders. In 2004, there were 6,948 hospitalizations for affective disorders. The hospitalization rate in the county was 44 affective disorders per 10,000 population. This is the notably higher than the Texas rate of 32 per 10,000. The highest hospitalization rate in the county was of residents in the East sector with 43 hospitalizations per 10,000. Other sectors show hospitalizations at about the same rate for 27 to 31 hospitalizations per 10,000.