Mental Health Support and Self-Help Groups

Mental Health Support and Self-Help Groups
In Brief
NSDUH_161
October 8, 2009

There has been an increasing awareness of the role that mental health support and self-help groups play in recovery from mental illnesses. Mental health support and self-help groups, historically considered as an alternative to traditional mental health treatment, are now recognized as partners in the continuum of mental health care.1 The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) gathers information that can help provide a better understanding of the extent to which these groups are used, the characteristics of the people who use them, and the relationship between the more traditional modes of mental health treatment and mental health support or self-help groups.

This issue of The NSDUH Report examines the characteristics of adults (i.e., persons aged 18 or older) who received treatment, counseling, or support for emotions, nerves, or mental health in the past year from an in-person support or a self-help group (support and self-help groups hereafter are referred to collectively as self-help groups). All findings presented in this report are annual averages based on combined 2005 to 2008 NSDUH data.

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http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k9/161/161MHSupportGroupHTML.pdf