- Nearly half of Iowans or those close to them have experienced a serious mental health issue at least once in the past few years
- 57% of those Iowans say it was difficult to access competent mental health treatment
- Rural Iowans more commonly report higher levels of difficulty accessing competent mental health care
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When Iowans, their family members or close friends are faced with a serious mental health issue, a majority say it's difficult to get help.
A new Des Moines Register/Medicom Iowa Poll measures how prevalent serious mental health issues are among Iowans.
Nearly half of Iowans (46%) have experienced serious mental health challenges themselves or through someone close to them, such as a family member or a friend, at least once in the past few years, the poll found.
Fifty-two percent of Iowans say they or their close circle did not experience serious mental health issues in the past few years, and 2% are not sure.
Among Iowans who indicate they have had at least one or two experiences with serious mental health issues recently, 57% report it was difficult to get competent treatment. Another 40% say the search for care was easy, while 3% aren’t sure.
The poll of 806 Iowa adults was conducted June 9-14 by Selzer & Co. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Iowa, along with the rest of the United States, has seen a surge in the prevalence of mental health issues in both adults and youth in recent years.
At the same time, many Americans have reported challenges in accessing care for their mental health conditions.
The results of the new Iowa Poll highlight that Iowa also struggles with this growing health care dilemma.
Older Iowans less likely to report mental health issues
The Iowa Poll asked Iowans how often they had experienced a serious mental health issue themselves or through a family member or friend in recent years.
A fifth of Iowans (20%) report that they or someone close to them has experienced a serious mental health issue many times in the past few years; 14% report doing so a few times and 12% report just once or twice.
Older Iowans are less likely than younger counterparts to report that they or someone close to them has experienced a serious mental health issue.
Sixty-seven percent of Iowans 55 and older say they or those close to them have had no experience with a serious mental health issue in recent years.
Among those 65 and older, it’s nearly three-fourths (74%). By comparison, 47% of Iowans 35 to 54 and 37% of Iowans under 35 report no experiences with a serious mental health issue.
Those under 35 report the highest rate of personally or through others experiencing a serious mental health issue many times recently, at 30%. That’s compared with 21% among those 35 to 54, and 12% among those 55 and older.
Rural Iowans face greater challenges in finding care
Among Iowans who say they or those close to them experienced recent mental health issues, 29% say it was fairly difficult and 29% say it was very difficult to get competent treatment.
Those challenges are present across education levels, the poll shows. Fifty-six percent of Iowans without a college degree and 59% of those with a college degree report some level of difficulty.
The poll found accessing care for serious mental health issues is difficult for most regardless of where they live, with at least half of those living in cities, suburbs, towns and rural parts of the state all reporting some level of difficulty. That was also true across Iowa’s four congressional districts.
However, those living in rural areas and in towns are more likely to report it was very difficult to find treatment, at 36% and 33% respectively. That’s compared with 21% of those living in cities and 25% of those living in suburbs who reported it was very difficult to find treatment.
Poll respondent Amie Stark said she believes cost is the biggest challenge for rural Iowans in need of mental health care. Stark, a 48-year-old resident of Laurens who has struggled with suicidal ideation in the past, said she lives 45 minutes from the nearest mental health providers.
“In the smaller towns, it might be more difficult to get that help because of gas prices,” she said. “You’re deciding between mental health or feeding my kids or paying my rent. What comes first?”
Stark said two years ago, her then-20-year-old son struggled with suicidal thoughts and sought help from a Storm Lake mental health clinic. He did not have health insurance and received a $500 bill for the cost of the appointment and his medication.
Because he still does not have health insurance coverage, Stark said the now 21-year-old has not sought additional treatment and medication.
"He is not suicidal right now, but that’s always in the back of my mind,” said Stark, a general manager at a plant cafeteria in Storm Lake.
Megan Huey, a 33-year-old Waukee resident and poll respondent, said she witnessed how daunting it can be for people to seek care, both through personal experience and through her work as a physician assistant.
Huey, who works at a rural health care system, recounted instances in the past when patients would come to her urgent care clinic for mental health care, but she wasn’t equipped to provide them with treatment.
She would direct them to their primary care provider or the ER for help, but she said it still felt like “casting them off.”
“If I was just a layman person or I was just a typical person that didn't know the system, I would have no idea how to navigate the system,” she said. “And that's the part that I find very frustrating.”
Huey said a close family member recently sought help for depression but struggled to find a counselor in the community that accepted the person’s health insurance. The therapists the relative did see briefly accepted only cash payments for sessions, which Huey said was not sustainable.
“The process just became so daunting,” she said. “They saw a few different therapists and just felt that there wasn’t a good fit, and they didn’t know where to go from there. So, they just stopped trying.”
Forty percent of Iowans dealing with serious mental health issues say finding treatment is easy
The poll found women (64%) are more likely than men (47%) to say it was difficult to access competent care.
Included in the 40% of Iowans who report it was easy to find competent treatment, 10% say it was “very easy” and 30% say it was “fairly easy."
Self-identified Republicans, at 52%, are more likely to report it was easy to access competent mental health treatment, compared with Democrats (31%) or independents (35%).
Poll respondent Dennis Bond, a 65-year-old Grinnell resident and a Republican, was diagnosed 20 years ago with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, which he said is attributed to the death of two young sons. He has since also been diagnosed with anxiety.
Bond sees a psychologist and gets his medication through the VA Clinic in Marshalltown. He said he finds it easy to access the care he needs and believes the same could be true for others if they are willing to ask for help.
“The help is there,” Bond said. “You just have to reach out for it, and if you don’t get it the first time, keep trying.”
Michaela Ramm covers health care for the Des Moines Register. She can be reached at mramm@registermedia.com, at (319) 339-7354 or on Twitter at @Michaela_Ramm.
About the Iowa Poll
The Iowa Poll, conducted June 9-14, 2024, for The Des Moines Register and Mediacom by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, is based on telephone interviews with 806 Iowans ages 18 or older. Interviewers with Quantel Research contacted households with randomly selected landline and cell phone numbers supplied by Dynata. Interviews were administered in English. Responses were adjusted by age, sex and congressional district to reflect the general population based on recent American Community Survey estimates.
Questions based on the sample of 806 Iowa adults have a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. This means that if this survey were repeated using the same questions and the same methodology, 19 times out of 20, the findings would not vary from the true population value by more than plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Results based on smaller samples of respondents — such as by gender or age — have a larger margin of error.
Republishing the copyright Iowa Poll without credit and, on digital platforms, links to originating content on The Des Moines Register and Mediacom is prohibited.
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