Study: 1 in 5 young adults has severe personality disorder
Dec. 2, 2008 12:00 AMAssociated Press
CHICAGO - Almost one in five young American adults has a personality disorder that interferes with everyday life, and even more of them abuse alcohol or drugs, researchers reported Monday in the most extensive study of its kind. The disorders include problems such as obsessive or compulsive tendencies and anti-social behavior that can sometimes lead to violence. The study also found that fewer than 25 percent of college-age Americans with mental problems get treatment.
One expert said personality disorders may be over-diagnosed. But others said the results were not surprising because previous, less rigorous evidence has suggested mental problems are common on college campuses and elsewhere.
Experts praised the study's scope, face-to-face interviews about numerous disorders with more than 5,000 young people ages 19 to 25, and said it spotlights a problem college administrators need to address. The study's co-author, Dr. Mark Olfson of Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute, called the widespread lack of treatment particularly worrisome. He said it should alert not only "students and parents, but also deans and people who run college mental-health services about the need to extend access to treatment."
Counting substance abuse, the study found that nearly half of young people surveyed, including students and non-students, have some sort of psychiatric condition. Personality disorders were the second most common problem behind drug or alcohol abuse as a single category. The disorders include obsessive, anti-social and paranoid behaviors that are not mere quirks but actually interfere with ordinary functioning.
The study was released Monday in Archives of General Psychiatry. (sent in email) It was based on interviews with 5,092 young adults in 2001 and 2002.
Olfson said it took time to analyze the data, including weighting the results to extrapolate national numbers. But the authors said the results would probably hold true today.
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As my colleagues know, I have supported providing mental health counseling services for our students. This service would benefit a large portion of our student population. It is also a service that could be offered to faculty and staff in their times of need. We see a multitude of issues on this campus, much of which, as faculty, we are not qualified to deal with.
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