Mental illness costs the U.S. economy $282 billion annually, which is equivalent to the average economic recession, according to a new study co-authored by Yale economist Aleh Tsyvinski.
The first-of-its-kind study integrates psychiatric scholarship with economic modeling to better understand the macroeconomic effects of mental illness in the United States.
The first-of-its-kind study integrates psychiatric scholarship with economic modeling to better understand the macroeconomic effects of mental illness in the United States.
The study was prepared as a working paper of the National Bureau of Research, a private nonprofit U.S. organization that includes researchers from leading U.S. universities, economics professional organizations, and the business and labor communities.
The $282 billion estimate — which amounts to about 1.7% of the country’s aggregate consumption — is about 30% larger than previous approximations of mental illness’s overall cost in epidemiological studies.
