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North Dakota Statistics:

Mental Illness Is Common - of North Dakota’s approximately 600,000 residents, close to 24,000 adults live with serious mental illness and about 6,000 children live with serious mental health conditions. 

Untreated Mental Illness has Deadly and Costly Consequences - In 2015, 137 North Dakotans died by suicide. For every one life lost to suicide, at least 25 people attempt it. Suicide is the ninth leading cause of death for all age groups combined and the second-leading cause of death among youth aged 10-24 in North Dakota. Over 90 percent of individuals who die from suicide have at least one mental illness. Statewide, we lose one life to suicide every 64 hours. Nationally, we lose one life to suicide every 15 minutes.

Public Mental Health Services are Inadequate - North Dakota’s public mental health system provides services to only 29 percent of adults who live with serious mental illnesses in the state.  North Dakota spent just $72 per capita on mental health agency services in 2006, or $45.5 million.  This was just 1.4 percent of total state spending that year.  In 2006, 68 percent of North Dakota state mental health agency spending was on community mental health services; 32 percent was spent on state hospital care. Nationally, an average of 70 percent is spent on community mental health services and 28 percent on state hospital care.

Criminal Justice Systems Bear a Heavy Burden -
In 2006, 240 children were incarcerated in North Dakota’s juvenile justice system.  Nationally, approximately 70 percent of youth in juvenile justice systems experience mental health disorders, with 20 percent experiencing a severe mental health condition. In 2008, approximately 300 adults with mental illnesses were incarcerated in prisons in North Dakota. Additionally, an estimated 31 percent of female and 14 percent of male jail inmates nationally live with serious mental illness.

Many Residents Rely on Public Services for Needed Care - Approximately 8.7 percent of North Dakotans are enrolled in Medicaid. Approximately 68,000 North Dakotans are uninsured. Housing is unaffordable for people who rely on SSI or SSDI. The average rent for a studio apartment in North Dakota is 62 percent of the average Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payment, making housing unaffordable for adults living with serious mental illness who rely on SSI. 


Read the 2014 Schulte Consulting, LCC Behavioral Health Planning Final Report and the 2016 North Dakota Behavioral Health Assessment for more in-depth information.

Sources for Statistics -
​North Dakota Suicide Prevention Program
​American Foundation for Suicide Prevention State Fact Sheets


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