What is new in the field of mental health? We are a few months into 2026 and organizations are starting to publish mental health research findings from 2025. It is a good time to review some of these findings and current trends, and see how they compare to previous years. There are a few resources we used to gather this information.
Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
As we have noted in previous blogs, and on our website, 80% of the money raised by HIKE for Mental Health via our hikes funds research grants through the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. The foundation has recently announced its top research achievements of 2025. All of the research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, and includes findings in neuroscience, next-generation therapies, and early identification and prevention of mental illness. Specifically, research focused on: PTSD, eating disorders, autism, schizophrenia, neurodevelopmental disorders, ADHD, anxiety, depression, addiction, childhood mental health, suicide, and bipolar disorder. You can read more about each research study here. When you read the titles of these research topics it is hard not to be impressed!
National Institute Of Mental Health (NIMH)
The NIMH shared its science updates from 2025. Nine research studies were highlighted. Brain function, suicide prevention, depression, bipolar disorder, memory, and mental health outcomes were the focus of these studies. Click here to read each study’s research highlight. Click on each study to learn more about what the research included and what the outcomes were. If you like what you are reading you can even go back to previous years to learn about earlier studies in the field.
The State of Mental Health in America in 2025
Mental Health America publishes “The State of Mental Health in America” report each year, highlighting the latest national data on mental health and well-being in the U.S. It also includes state-level rankings. The 2025 report actually reviews the data from 2024. You can download the full report from their website. Here are some of the findings.
- The prevalence of mental health concerns among adults in the U. S. has not changed significantly from 2021 to 2024.
- Mental health among youth in the U.S. improved significantly from 2023 to 2024.
- Young people are still struggling, with approximately 11% of youth in the U.S. experienced a major depressive episode with severe impairment in the past year, and nearly 3 million youth reported frequent thoughts of suicide.
- Access to mental health care remains out of reach for millions of people in the U.S. who need it.
- In the U.S., there were 320 individuals for every one mental health provider in 2024.
- New York, Hawaii, and New Jersey scored the best across 17 measures of prevalence of mental illness and access to mental health care.
- Alabama, Arizona, and Nevada scored the worst, with higher prevalence of mental illness and lower access to mental health care.
- In 2024, approximately 23% of adults in the U.S. experienced any mental illness in the past year, equivalent to over 60 million people.
- In 2024, nearly 18% of adults in the U.S. had a substance use disorder in the past year, totaling over 46 million people.
- In 2024, nearly 6% of adults reported experiencing serious thoughts of suicide. The estimated number of adults with suicidal ideation in the U.S. in 2024 was over 14 million.
- The percentage of youth who experienced a major depressive episode in the past year decreased significantly between 2023 and 2024.
- The percentage of youth with substance use disorder decreased significantly between 2021 and 2024.
- The national rate of youth reporting serious thoughts of suicide has decreased significantly, from 12.30% of youth in 2023 to 10.10% of youth in 2024.
The above findings indicate that, while improvements were made in many areas, the prevalence of mental health concerns is still concerning, and young people are still struggling. If you are interested in more of the findings or more details from this report, click here.
Why This Information Is Important
You may be asking yourself why it is important to review current research and trends in the field of mental health. First, this information helps to provide a snapshot of mental health status for policy makers to review, analyze, evaluate, and use for planning purposes, and future research. Second, the data helps to track changes in the prevalence of mental health issues across the U.S. and access to mental health care. Third, this information helps us to understand how changes in national data reflect the impact of legislation and policies. Finally, it helps to increase dialogue within a family and community, and improve outcomes for individuals and families with mental health needs. As was written in the “The State of Mental Health in America” report:
“Without data like these, state agencies, policymakers, providers, and other stakeholders lack the information needed to direct resources to populations at greatest risk or to assess the impact of policy or programming changes.”
In summary, reviewing the research findings and current trends help to increase awareness and knowledge about mental health. We hope some of the information in this article sparks your curiosity and desire to take a deeper dive into the resources provided. Happy reading!
