Children’s Mental Illness Costs $247 Billion, U.S. Says
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Mental illness in children costs $247 billion annually, a figure increasing along with the number of kids hospitalized for mood disorders, substance abuse and other psychiatric disorders, according to a U.S. report.
As many as 1 in 5 children ages 3 to 17 has a mental illness, with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, as the most prevalent diagnosis, according to the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rate of children hospitalized for mood disorders rose 80 percent from 1997 to 2010, the report said, citing a U.S. study from that year.