Mental Health & Substance Use Data for Delaware

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Overview

Introduction

How are Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Connected?

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, "many individuals who develop substance use disorders (SUD) are also diagnosed with mental disorders, and vice versa. Multiple national population surveys have found that about half of those who experience a mental illness during their lives will also experience a substance use disorder and vice versa."¹

Why is the SUD crisis important to Delawareans?

By drug overdose death rates alone, the substance use disorder crisis continues to escalate. The rate of drug overdose deaths has increased from 6.7 per 100,000 to 48.4 per 100,000 in 2019, which is a seven-fold increase. Delaware has the second highest drug overdose death rate in the country with an age-adjusted drug overdose mortality rate of 48.4 per 100,000 in 2019. All three counties have rates higher than the national rate.

What is Delaware doing to address the crisis?

Delaware's monthly prescription rate of 33 per 1,000 persons in December 2019 was above the national average, but rates have been declining. Beginning with the launch of the Prescription Monitoring Program in 2012, Delaware has been working to address this crisis. Since then "Help is Here" was launched, community access to naloxone has been expanded, legislation to continue to support these efforts was passed, life-saving information has been distributed to the public through the OpiRescue App, and surveillance report data has been released to the public to further highlight the continued need for action.

Finding Support

Mental Health Support

In a mental health crisis support is here.

For anonymous conversation: Text DE to 741741 for the Crisis Text Line. Call: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

For in-person evaluation: If under 18, call: 1-800-969-HELP (4357) If over 18, call: 1-800-652-2929 in New Castle 1-800-969-4357 in Kent/Sussex

Substance Use Disorder Support

Are you or a loved one looking for substance abuse treatment?

Delaware has resources available.

View the map of providers
Visit Help is Here Delaware for support
Call (833) 9-HOPEDE to get the help you need

Key Data and Reports

Mental Health & Substance Use in Delaware

Here, we highlight one key statistic from each topic. Click a table row to see more detailed data for the statistic. Or click on a link under "Topic Page" to view a statistic's corresponding topic page.

To investigate the data, click a table row

Table Key

Topic Page	Indicator	Delaware	% Change	Trendline
Non-Fatal Substance Use	Alcohol monthly number of emergency visits	572 (December 2022)	Increased 20%(December 2021 to December 2022)	Data loading for chart...
Adult Excessive Drinking	Adults who Engage in Binge Drinking percentage of adults	13.6% (2023)	Decreased 17%(2018 to 2023)	Data loading for chart...
Drug Overdose Deaths	Drug Overdose Death Rate age-adjusted rate per 100,000 residents	54.1 (2021)	Increased 69%(2016 to 2021)	Data loading for chart...
Mental Health	Depression percentage of adults	20.1% (2023)	Increased 19%(2018 to 2023)	Data loading for chart...
Prescription Monitoring Program	People who filled any opioid prescription monthly rate per 100 people	2.8 (March 2025)	Did not change(March 2024 to March 2025)	Data loading for chart...
Suicide	Suicide Deaths number of people	134 (2021)	Increased 13%(2016 to 2021)	Data loading for chart...
Tobacco Use	Adults Who Smoke percentage of adults	11.4% (2023)	Decreased 31%(2018 to 2023)	Data loading for chart...
Youth Substance Use	Prescription Pill Abuse in Youth percentage of youth	8.0% (2021)	Decreased 21%(2017 to 2021)	Data loading for chart...
Youth Use of Prescription Pain Meds without Prescription	Youth Self-Reported Use of Prescription Pain Meds without Prescription number of people	1,186 (2018)	Decreased 41%(2013 to 2018)	Data loading for chart...

Values marked with

indicate there is insufficient data to respect the privacy of citizens.

Investigative Stories

Mental Health & Substance Use Disorder

Insights from the 2014-2018 Delaware Suicide Surveillance StudyDate published: April 2022Read the story

Mental Health & Substance Use Disorder

Delaware's Opioid CrisisDate published: January 2020Read the story

Additional Information

Mental Health & Substance Use in Delaware

COVID-19 and Mental Health

What are the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health?

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on mental health throughout the United States. The CDC reported that US adults reported elevated levels of adverse mental health conditions, substance use, and suicidal ideation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. ²

CDC analyses of high school students found that, in 2021, more than a third (37%) of high school students reported they experienced poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 44% reported they persistently felt sad or hopeless during the past year.³

Data Sources

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)

Citation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013-2019

View or download this dataset

Delaware Prescription Monitoring Program

Citation: Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Office of Controlled Substances. Prescription Monitoring Program. https://dpr.delaware.gov/boards/controlledsubstances/

View or download this dataset

Delaware School Survey

Citation: University of Delaware, Center for Drug and Health Studies. Delaware School Survey. 2011-2018.

View or download this dataset

Emergency Department Data

Citation: Delaware Department of Health and Social Services. https://myhealthycommunity.dhss.delaware.gov/

View or download this dataset

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Citation: Delaware Health and Social Services, Office of Vital Statistics. 2011-2020. Delaware Vital Statistics Report.

View or download this dataset

Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS)

Citation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data. 2019. Available at www.cdc.gov/yrbs.

View or download this dataset

Footnotes

NIDA. “Part 1: The Connection Between Substance Use Disorders and Mental Illness.“ National Institute on Drug Abuse, 27 Sep. 2022, https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/common-comorbidities-substance-use-disorders/part-1-connection-between-substance-use-disorders-mental-illness Accessed 14 May 2024.
Czeisler MÉ , Lane RI, Petrosky E, et al. Mental Health, Substance Use, and Suicidal Ideation During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, June 24-30, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:1049-1057. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6932a1.https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6932a1.htm Accessed 14 May 2024.
New CDC data illuminate youth mental health threats during the COVID-19 pandemic. CDC. Published March 31, 2022.https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/p0331-youth-mental-health-covid-19.html. Accessed 14 May 2024

Privacy

In releasing this information, Delaware aims to provide information that can be helpful to local communities as they work to improve public health. However, the protection of the confidentiality of our citizens is of paramount importance. To that end, counts of less than 11 are not presented. An outside expert has reviewed the platform to ensure it complies with the HIPAA privacy rule (45 CFR 164.§514(b)).