Mental Health & Substance Use

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Overview

Introduction

How are Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Connected?

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, "many individuals who develop substance use disorders (SUD) are also diagnosed with mental disorders, and vice versa. Multiple national population surveys have found that about half of those who experience a mental illness during their lives will also experience a substance use disorder and vice versa."¹

Why is the SUD crisis important Delawareans?

By drug overdose death rates alone, the substance use disorder crisis continues to escalate. The rate of drug overdose deaths has increased from 6.7 per 100,000 to 48.4 per 100,000 in 2019, which is a seven-fold increase. Delaware has the second highest drug overdose death rate in the country with an age-adjusted drug overdose mortality rate of 48.4 per 100,000 in 2019. All three counties have rates higher than the national rate.

What is Delaware doing to address the crisis?

Delaware's monthly prescription rate of 33 per 1,000 persons in December 2019 was above the national average, but rates have been declining. Beginning with the launch of the Prescription Monitoring Program in 2012, Delaware has been working to address this crisis. Since then "Help is Here" was launched, community access to naloxone has been expanded, legislation to continue to support these efforts was passed, life-saving information has been distributed to the public through the OpiRescue App, and surveillance report data has been released to the public to further highlight the continued need for action.

Finding Support

Mental Heath Support

In a mental health crisis support is here.

For anonymous conversation: Text DE to 741741 for the Crisis Text Line. Call: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

For in-person evaluation: If under 18, call: 1-800-969-HELP (4357) If over 18, call: 1-800-652-2929 in New Castle 1-800-969-4357 in Kent/Sussex

Substance Use Disorder Support

Are you or a loved one looking for substance abuse treatment?

Delaware has resources available.

View the map of providers
Visit Help is Here Delaware for support
Call (833) 9-HOPEDE to get the help you need

Investigative Stories

Mental Health & Substance Use Disorder

Insights from the 2014-2018 Delaware Suicide Surveillance Study

Date published: April 2022 Read the story

Mental Health & Substance Use Disorder

Delaware's Opioid Crisis

Date published: January 2020 Read the story

Key Data and Reports

Mental Health & Substance Use in Delaware

Data are current as of 2023

The Mental Health & Substance Use area of the site includes the following 9 topics: Adult Excessive Drinking, Drug Overdose Deaths, Mental Health, Prescription Monitoring Program, Suicide, Suspected Non-fatal Drug Overdoses, Tobacco Use, Youth Substance Use, Youth Use of Prescription Pain Meds without Prescription.

Here we highlight one key statistic from each topic. Click "View full report" to see more detailed data for the topic.

Icon Key

Needs Attention

Improving

Adults who Engage in Binge Drinking

2021

12.9%

of adults

Decreased 30.6% from 2012 to 2021

View more Adult Excessive Drinking data

Cocaine

2020

16.4

age-adjusted rate per 100,000 residents

Increased 355.6% from 2011 to 2020

View more Drug Overdose Deaths data

Depression

2021

16.4%

of adults

Increased 10.8% from 2012 to 2021

View more Mental Health data

People who filled opioid and benzodiazepine prescriptions in the same month.

July 2023

0.3

rate per 100 people

Decreased 70.0% from January 2012 to July 2023

View more Prescription Monitoring Program data

Suicide

2020

12.0

age-adjusted rate per 100,000 residents

Increased 7.1% from 2011 to 2020

View more Suicide data

Suspected Non-Fatal Drug Overdoses

June 2020

2.7

age-adjusted rate per 10,000 people

Increased 3.8% from January 2016 to June 2020

View more Suspected Non-fatal Drug Overdoses data

Tobacco Use

2021

18.3%

of youth

Decreased 9.9% from 2013 to 2021

View more Tobacco Use data

Prescription Pill Abuse

2021

8.0%

of youth

Decreased 36.5% from 2015 to 2021

View more Youth Substance Use data

Youth Self-Reported Use of Prescription Pain Meds without Prescription

2018

14%

of respondents

Decreased 22% from 2011 to 2018

View more Youth Use of Prescription Pain Meds without Prescription data

Additional Information

Mental Health & Substance Use in Delaware

Resources

COVID-19 and Mental Health

What are the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health?

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on mental health throughout the United States. The CDC reported that US adults reported elevated levels of adverse mental health conditions, substance use, and suicidal ideation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. ²

CDC analyses of high school students found that, in 2021, more than a third (37%) of high school students reported they experienced poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 44% reported they persistently felt sad or hopeless during the past year.³

About the Data

This page includes the following datasets:

Privacy

In releasing this information, Delaware aims to provide information that can be helpful to local communities as they work to improve public health. However, the protection of the confidentiality of our citizens is of paramount importance. To that end, counts of less than 11 are not presented, and the rate is not calculated for counts of less than 20. An outside expert has reviewed the platform to ensure it complies with the HIPAA privacy rule (45 CFR 164.§514(b)).