In the June 2005 edition of the Archives of General Psychiatry, a group of researchers from the Department of Health Care Policy with Harvard Medical School, reported estimates for lifetime prevalence and median age of onset for broad categories of disorders found in the DSM IV. Lifetime prevalence refers to the percentage of people who will have a disorder at some time in their lives. Median age of onset represents the age in the set of scores that exactly divides the distribution of scores in half; an equal number of participants will be older and an equal number will be younger the age noted. Analysis of 9,282 participants returned the following estimates:
Lifetime Prevalence Estimates
- Anxiety Disorders - 28.8%
- Mood Disorders - 20.8%
- Impulse-Control Disorders - 24.8%
- Substance Use Disorders -14.6%
- Any Disorder - 46.4%
Median age of onset
- Anxiety Disorders – 11 years
- Mood Disorders – 30 years
- Impulse-Control Disorders – 11 years
- Substance Use Disorders – 20 years
This data indicates that close to half of the population of the United States (the country in which the study was conducted) will meet the criteria for a mental disorder during their lifetime. Of these, this translates to an estimated 20.8% of the population receiving a diagnosis of a mood disorder (bipolar disorder, major depression, cyclothymia, dysthymia) during their lifetime. This data further demonstrates that half of those with mood disorders will experience onset of symptoms before age 30 and half after age 30.
In their conclusion, the researchers noted that a major finding of this study is that "About half of Americans will meet the criteria for a DSM-IV disorder sometime in their life, with first onset usually in childhood or adolescence. Interventions aimed at prevention or early treatment need to focus on youth."
References
Kessler, R.C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., & Walters, E.E. (2005). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62.
