"Major mental disorders cost the nation at least $193 billion annually in lost earnings alone, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)."

"Lost earning potential, costs associated with treating coexisting conditions, Social Security payments, homelessness and incarceration are just some of the indirect costs associated with mental illnesses that have been difficult to quantify," said NIMH Director Thomas R. Insel, M.D. "This study shows us that just one source of these indirect costs is staggeringly high."

"Direct costs associated with mental disorders like medication, clinic visits, and hospitalization are relatively easy to quantify, but they reveal only a small portion of the economic burden these illnesses place on society. Indirect costs like lost earnings likely account for enormous expenses, but they are very difficult to define and estimate."

In 2006 the Department of Justice released its findings on mental health issues facing inmates in federal and state prisons.  The study concluded that over half of the prison population suffered with a diagnosable mental illness.  The highest instances of mental illness in the prison system is in the female population with 55% of the women diagnosed with mental illness, compared to 30% of incarcerated men.

mental health Costs in Oregon

Average Emergency Room Cost - $540 per visit

Average Crisis Line Cost -  $40 per visit

Incarceration in Prisons & Jails -  $158 per day (Average)

County Jail Incarceration Average -  $540 per visit

50% of the medication costs in the county jail system is for Psychotropic Medications

The cost for FolkTime services is $ 17.77 per day.