A UNLV report published last week shows Nevada ranks last in mental health rankings in the United States.
The report, by UNLV’s Brookings Mountain West and the Lincy Institute, ranked western states using surveys from a handful of national sources.
“Among Mountain West states, Arizona has the lowest mental health workforce availability with one mental health professional for every 710 residents. Nevada ranks second lowest in the Mountain West…” the report’s authors noted.
Nevada ranks last in the county for youth mental health ratings, and all Mountain West states “have some of the lowest overall mental health rankings in the nation.”
The Mountain West states in general have “a higher prevalence of mental illness and lower rates of access to care,” the report noted. Nevadans have one mental health professional for every 460 people, which is above Arizona’s 710 to one ratio.
Midwest and northeastern states tend to have better mental health service availability.
The four-page report relies on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s behavioral risk factor surveillance system, the federal Department of Education’s center for education statistics and Mental Health America’s report, “The state of Mental Health in America.”
“The data focus on how many adults and youth have mental health issues, substance use issues, access to adequate insurance, and access to mental health care,” the authors said. “Nevada ranks 51st and last among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in overall mental health rankings.”
