About Behavioral Health

Key points

  • Behavioral health is a key component of overall health.
  • Behavioral health refers to the topics of mental distress, mental health conditions, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and substance use.
  • Promoting positive behavioral health includes addressing factors at multiple levels, including social determinants of health—supporting the environments where we live, work, learn, and play.
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Overview

Behavioral health1 refers to a state of mental, emotional, and social well-being or behaviors and actions that affect wellness. Behavioral health is a key component of overall health. The term is also used to describe the support systems that promote well-being, prevent mental distress, and provide access to treatments and services for mental health conditions.

Behavioral health is an umbrella term that refers to the following topics:

  • Mental health (i.e., well-being, mental distress, mental health conditions)
  • Suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts
  • Substance use or substance use disorders

Improving behavioral outcomes means addressing factors at multiple levels, including social determinants of health—supporting the environments where we live, work, learn, and play.

Mental health and suicide

Suicide is the second leading cause of death in the United States among individuals ages 10 to 14 and 25-34 in 2022. In 2022 there were over 49,000 deaths by suicide—or one suicide death every 11 minutes.2

About 45% of all people who die by suicide have a history of a diagnosed mental health condition.3 However, suicide is not caused by any single factor.

  • While not all people who die by suicide were known to have a mental health condition, there are many shared risk factors that can lead to both poor mental health and risk for suicide.
  • These factors include challenges in relationships, substance use, physical health, and financial, legal, housing, or work stress.4
  • Similar to risk factors, there is also a range of factors at individual, relationship, community, and societal levels that can protect people from suicide.4

Suicide is preventable. Working holistically to reduce these risk factors, as well as promote well-being and prevent mental distress, can reduce deaths by suicide.

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Related conditions

Mental health and substance use

People may sometimes turn to drugs, alcohol, and other substances to help them cope with stress, trauma, or mental distress. Substance use may lead to developing a substance use disorder (SUD), including opioid use disorder, which can sometimes result in fatal outcomes such as deaths due to drug overdose. Drug overdose deaths, including overdose deaths due to prescription or illegal opioids, have increased more than 500% between 1999 and 2022, making it a leading cause of death in the United States.5

Mental health conditions and SUDs often co-occur, meaning a person can have both a mental health condition and an SUD at the same time.

  • Approximately 20.4 million adults in the United States have this type of co-occurring mental health condition.6
  • People with a mental health condition are more likely to use substances or have an SUD than those without a mental health condition.7
  • Additionally, people who use substances or have an SUD can develop other mental health conditions.7

Promoting well-being and preventing mental distress can reduce substance use and overdose. There are safe, effective ways to recover from substance use disorders. Finding the right treatment option, including medication to help with cravings and withdrawal, can be the key to a successful recovery journey.

Resources

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Content Source:
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
  1. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2023). Roadmap to behavioral health: Guide to mental health and substance use disorder services. Retrieved on April 10, 2024 from https://www.cms.gov/About-CMS/Agency-Information/OMH/Downloads/Roadmap-to-Behavioral-Health-508-Updated-2018.pdf; Evans, A. & Bufka, L. (2020). The critical need for a population health approach: Addressing the nation's behavioral health during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Preventing Chronic Disease, 17, E79. Retrieved April 10, 2024 from http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd17.200261.
  2. CDC. (2024). Facts About Suicide. Retrieved August 8, 2024 from https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/facts/index.html
  3. CDC. (2018). Vital Signs: Suicide rising across the US. Retrieved on June 24, 2024 from https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/pdf/vs-0618-suicide-H.pdf
  4. CDC. (2024). Risk and Protective Factors for Suicide. Retrieved on September 20, 2024, from https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/risk-factors/index.html
  5. CDC. (2024). About Overdose Prevention. Retrieved on July 11, 2024 from https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/about/index.html
  6. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2023). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (HHS Publication No. PEP23-07-01-006, NSDUH Series H-58). Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt47095/National%20Report/National%20Report/2023-nsduh-annual-national.pdf
  7. National Institute of Mental Health. (2024). Substance use and co-occurring mental disorders. Retrieved on June 24, 2024 from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/substance-use-and-mental-health