GEOGRAPHY & MENTAL HEALTH: Best States for Happiness & Mental Health 2023 | Soliant Health via Deseret News

Numerous factors influence your mental health, but have you considered the significant role geography can play? 

The U.S. mental health crisis takes a toll on different populations around the country for many reasons. 

Health care staffing company Soliant Health released its research and rankings of U.S. states from best to worst concerning happiness, mental health, and mental care access in 2023.

In order to determine where each state fell in the rankings, researchers looked at factors including 

• how many mental health providers were available in the area, 
• suicide rates (ages 15-25), 
• how often people were experiencing “bad mental health days,” 
• unemployment rate and violent crime. 
• Access to exercise, including public parks, recreation facilities, and YMCA
• Air pollution, to offset states with limited access to exercise opportunities due to rural landscapes and larger bodies of nature or protected land

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The Top 10 Best States for Mental Health

The Soliant 2023 Best States for Mental Health report revealed that the best state for mental health is Nebraska, collecting 85.2 of the total 100 points possible across the eight mental health categories.

Here are the top 10 best states to live in regarding mental health:

1. Nebraska.
2. Connecticut.
3. Massachusetts.
4. Minnesota.
5. Rhode Island.
6. New Jersey.
7. Vermont.
8. Colorado.
9. North Dakota.
10. Utah.

West Virginia placed 50th, with the “highest average number of mentally unhealthy days reported by residents in the past 30 days,” followed by Alabama and then Arkansas, the research reported.