In Case You Haven't Heard…

Abstract

An increasing number of America's seniors are struggling with mental health issues, the senior living resource, Seniorly.com, reported. Compared to all other age groups, seniors aged 65 and older experienced the sharpest rise in mental health diagnoses between 2019 and 2023, according to an analysis by FAIR Health, a health care price data sharing consortium. For many seniors, mental health concerns have not subsided in 2024. To identify the best and worst states for seniors' mental health, Seniorly measured the most recent federal data across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. They found that Utah is the best state for seniors — 71.2% of older adults in Utah said they get enough social and emotional support — one of the highest rates in the U.S. — and they're unlikely to live alone (30.6%). The rest of the top five — Hawaii, Minnesota, South Dakota and Alaska — have their own strengths and weaknesses, but generally boast few mentally unhealthy days per month and lower depression rates than the rest of the country. Louisiana is the worst state: Older adults have an average of 3.9 mentally unhealthy days per month in Louisiana, the highest rate in the U.S. The rest of the bottom-ranked states are geographically concentrated — Tennessee, Alabama, West Virginia and Oklahoma — and tend to have fewer mental health specialists available and higher depression rates among seniors.