New Study: Colorado’s Mental Health Status Among Nation’s Worst

By Debbie Kelley | The Denver Gazette

For two years in a row, Colorado has had nearly the worst rate in the nation of mental illness among children and adults, when compared with other states and the District of Columbia, according to a large-scale industry study.

Colorado ranks 50th — or second to last — for the prevalence of any mental health conditions in the 2025 State of Mental Health in America reports, the most recent version being released Wednesday.

Vincent Atchity, president and CEO at Denver-based Mental Health Colorado, one of 140 affiliates of Mental Health America, which produces the annual analysis, isn’t surprised.

Colorado has hovered near the bottom of the rankings for years in prevalence of mental problems and despite improving its standing to 14^th best in the nation for access to mental health care and treatment still has a long way to go, he said.

“We’ve known we’re in a state of distress for some time,” Atchity said of Colorado. “And we’re considerably worse off than this makes us look.”

The new data lags real-time; the report released this week compiles various statistics primarily from 2022 and 2023 to arrive at its conclusions.

And numbers of historically hard-hit sectors such as the homeless and incarcerated populations are not included, Atchity points out, which means substance abuse is even higher than what’s presented.

Colorado also ranks 50th worst in the country in the new report for substance abuse of alcohol and drugs by adults.

“When we think about this data dating back to 2023, the issues remain: the anxiety and fears associated with gun violence have not gone away, our access to care has not improved dramatically enough to solve that, there’s mounting concern not just about social media but also about artificial intelligence and how that’s affecting young people in particular, and our state of persistent political division and civic enmity is a great source of distress that’s not making any of us feel well,” Atchity said.

When combining prevalence of mental problems and access to treatment, Colorado remains in the 10 worst states for mental health overall, coming in 41st on this year’s list.

Advances being made

During the pandemic, mental health of children and adults took a sharp nosedive, as society experienced unprecedented restrictions for schools, businesses, churches and social gatherings in general.

Children seem to be bouncing back though. Youth mental health was the “bright spot” nationwide in the latest findings, Mary Giliberti, interim president and CEO of Mental Health America, said during a virtual media briefing earlier this week.

Depression and serious thoughts of suicide declined among teens, according to this year’s report, which tracks national trends, ranks states on 17 key measurements, and seeks to improve care, drive policy and support those struggling with mental health.

“It is better, but not good,” Giliberti said. “The message is clear: We continue to face a persistent mental health crisis in this country.”

Colorado youth also gave indications of being mentally healthier, with 13.45% of youth having “serious thoughts of suicide.” That ranked Colorado 30th best in the nation — a noticeable improvement from 2024, when Colorado ranked 43rd in the category.

There also was a bump from 56.7% in last year’s report to 60% this year for adolescents who were “flourishing” mentally.

Statewide, the suicide rate for children ages 10-18 fell last year to its lowest level since 2007, with 39 total deaths of adolescents. That’s a rate of 5.85 deaths per 100,000 youth under age 18, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Office of Suicide Prevention announced in August.

With 87 adolescent suicide deaths statewide in 2020, Colorado hit a peak that year, at nearly 13 deaths per 100,000 youth.

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