Mental Health & Substance Use

Women constitute 57% of the total clients served by the state’s mental health agencies, in community settings, and at state hospitals.

What is an ACE?

According to MDH’s ACEs in MN, the “ACE score is a measure of cumulative exposure to particular adverse childhood conditions. Exposure to any single ACE condition is counted as one point. Points are then totaled for a final ACE score. It is important to note that the ACE score does not capture the frequency or severity of any given ACE in a person’s life, focusing instead on the number of ACE categories experienced. In addition, the ACE categories used in the ACE study reflect only a select list of experiences” (page 14).

ACEs are associated with poor physical and mental health, chronic disease, lower educational achievement, lower economic success, and impaired social success in adulthood. ACEs are strongly associated with mental health issues later in life, and the higher the score, the more likely adults are to report depression or anxiety. 

  • 57% of MN women reported experiencing 1+ ACE in childhood
  • 24% of MN women reported experiencing 3+ ACEs in childhood

Major Depression

Major depression is ranked the most impactful condition among commercially-insured women in MN, accounting for 19.1% of adverse health conditions. From 2021-2022, 35.2% of women in MN ages 18-44 reported being told by a health professional that they have a depressive disorder.

In 2021, adults in MN reported an average of 4.3 mentally unhealthy days in the past 30 days, more than two times as many as they reported in 2013.

Substance Use 

Excessive alcohol use can result in a variety of harms (such as motor vehicle injuries, violence, heart disease, cancer, alcohol poisoning, and poor birth outcomes). For women, having 4+ drinks on one occasion is classified as binge drinking. Any drinking by pregnant women or people under the age of 21, or women having 8+ drinks in a week, is classified as heavy drinking. As of 2021, 56.6% of MN women 18+ reported alcohol use and 12.8% of MN women aged 18-65 smoked.

In 2021, 21.9% of people in the US ages 12+ reported using drugs in the last year, with the highest percentage among young adults ages 18-25 (38%). Among people over 12, the most commonly used drug was cannabis. 

Source: MDH
Source: MDH, 2021; America’s Health Rankings, 2022
Source: MDH
Source: Substance Use MN

In the United States, as of 2019 the rate of overdose deaths among females is 14.4 per 100,000. The rate of pregnant women with opioid use disorder at labor and delivery has quadrupled from 1999 to 2014, from 1.5 per 1,000 delivery hospitalizations in 1999 to 6.5 in 2014.

For additional information on the opioid crisis, the MN Center for Rural Policy and Development produced this report.