October 12, 2023 – Nebraska is the state with the very best mental health, based on a recent rating that takes into consideration aspects resembling violent crime rates and air pollution. Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Rhode Island took the highest five spots.
The recent report“The Best States for Your Mental Health” was commissioned by a Georgia-based company called Soliant, which focuses on healthcare staffing. In the report, the authors explained that they tried to incorporate a broader range of variables than simply measuring access to mental health care.
The rating was based on these eight things:
- The average variety of mental health days monthly reported by individuals who participated in an annual CDC health survey
- The ratio of mental health care providers to the state population, based on the Federal Registry of Medicare and Medicaid Approved Providers
- Suicide rate amongst people aged 15 to 24 within the state between 2018 and 2021
- Unemployment rate of individuals aged 16 and over
- Nationwide violent crime rate based on an FBI reporting system
- Access to opportunities for physical activity, resembling public parks and physical activity facilities
- Air pollution
- Disengaged youth rate, i.e. the proportion of 16- to 19-year-olds who're neither working nor attending school, based on census data
The report's authors noted that the speed of youth disengaged was weighted similarly to many other variables within the evaluation, but had a major impact on a state's final rating. Disengaged youth, the authors wrote, are “at increased risk for violence, smoking, alcohol and marijuana use, and may have emotional deficits and lower cognitive and academic skills than their peers who are working and/or attending school.”
In top-ranking Nebraska, the speed of youth not participating in social connection was 4.3%, the bottom of all 50 states. Other reasons for Nebraska's top rating were considered one of the five lowest unemployment rates and considered one of the five lowest rates of days spent with mental health problems.
Nationwide, nearly 15% of U.S. adults reported experiencing poor mental health for no less than 14 days up to now 30 days in 2021, based on results from a CDC survey conducted for one more report by the United Health Foundation.
About one in five people within the United States suffers from a mental illness, CDC.
If you or someone you recognize is in trouble, help is offered 24/7 by phone, chat or text through the 988 Lifeline. It's free and confidential. Call, text 988 or go to on-line to talk.