Education and Location

Education

There is a correlation between less mental health care and higher indicators of depression with lesser education and/or just high school diploma. People with higher education tend to have more choices in life. Thus, they are presented with a life path that is more geared towards their happiness; with a greater number of life choices, more control over their life comes into play. More control equals better mental health. Also, mental health care is expensive. People with higher education are more likely, on average, to make more money, have job security, and have health insurance. This plays into the availability of treatment. Also, those with less education may have more stigma surrounding getting treatment for mental health which could prevent them from getting the help they need. Ultimately, this shows gaps that exist with mental health treatment and how there may be educational and monetary barriers to mental health.

Location

There is a higher correlation with southern states and higher means of depression/anxiety indicators which is an interesting find. Looking at the map of states and amount of prescription drugs taken, there seems to be less prescription drug use in southern states. Therefore, there seems to be high levels of anxiety and depression indicators in the South but there does not seem to be the same level of mental health care/treatment for the region. This shows that people may not be getting the mental health treatment that they need, even though they are clearly showing indicators of anxiety and depression.

If people are not getting the treatments they need, it would make sense that they report higher indicators of depression/anxiety while in the northern states, if people are getting the treatment they need, they may be reporting less symptoms because of the treatment helping their mental health.