This paper is a policy-focused summary that draws out salient comparisons from national and state sources and discusses possible uses for them. The studies used were the National Comorbidity Study funded by Congress and conducted in 1990-91, the National Institute for Mental Health's Epidemiological Catchment Area study conducted in 1980-83, and the Washington State Needs Assessment Household Survey conducted between 1993 and 1994. Results provide readers with prevalence estimates for several disorders, including depression, generalized anxiety, mania, and psychosis. State findings are estimated for different adult populations and appear reasonable when compared to the large national studies. Consistent with findings in psychiatric epidemiology, people in poverty are more likely to experience all of these disorders, although the causation cannot be drawn from this data. Similarly, women were found more likely than men to experience the mood disorders, except for mania, which has the same prevalence in both men and women.
