Perhaps you’ve heard the stats: in a given year, 1 in 5 adults will experience a diagnosable mental illness. More than half will go untreated.
Prevalence in adolescents and young adults is even higher.
These struggles take a documented toll on businesses in the form of increased absenteeism, higher medical and disability costs, and lower productivity. One study estimated that major depressive disorder and its ripple effects cost the United States $333.7 billion in 2019. And that’s just one condition.
Now apply this same framework to the home.
Of the $333.7 billion figure quoted above, direct costs accounted for only about a third. The rest came from indirect costs that are much harder to see and quantify.
Similarly, when one family member suffers from poor mental health, the ripple effects take a vastly larger toll than is immediately apparent.
It’s not difficult to imagine the ways in which mental health struggles experienced by any member of the family can impact parenting capacity, emotions and relationships in the home, physical health, ability to learn — even the ability to make positive life choices.
Health care providers, insurers, employers, and families cannot afford to sever mind from body in terms of care, nor can they treat mental health care as a luxury. Our health is holistic, with each part affecting the other — and indeed, those around us. To achieve effective care, we must embrace that truth.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, more than 80 percent of employees who receive treatment for mental illness say their work efficacy and satisfaction increase.
When our clinicians work with families of neurodivergent children, they pay close attention to the mental health of all members of the family and offer support as needed. Typically, these families experience increased levels of stress and difficulty in everyday life. We realize that even if we provide all the best therapy and education and parenting strategies, those tools have limited scope if family members’ mental health struggles go unaddressed.
This holistic approach works. In 15 months with Pariva Health, families report a two-thirds decrease in stress.
The evidence is clear: Mental health must be a core component of overall care, at home and in the workplace.
The costs of failing to do so are too vast to ignore.
Find out more about Pariva Health’s unique approach to providing hope and health for families.