“Lying With” examines how misinformation and deception can distort measurable outcomes—from health and substance use to broader economic and security harms. In the U.S., reports of mental illness and illicit drug use reveal how narratives can be contested when the underlying data is shaped by pressure or bias. The page then turns to systems-level impacts, connecting fraud, phishing, and stolen credentials to breaches and lingering recovery timelines, and highlighting practices that reduce exposure.
Key Takeaways
- 1 in 10 adults in the United States reported using illicit drugs in the past month (2021)
- 14.7% of U.S. adults reported having a depressive disorder in 2021
- 1 in 5 U.S. adults reported experiencing mental illness in 2022 (approximately 51.5 million)
- Average cost of a data breach was $4.45 million in 2023
- U.S. residents reported losing $10.3 billion to fraud in 2023
- U.S. victims reported $8.8 billion in 2022 to IC3
- Time to identify and contain a breach was 277 days on average in 2022
- Organizations that use zero trust had 34% fewer breaches in 2023
- 41% of breaches involved stolen credentials (2023)
- Phishing accounted for 36% of breaches in 2023 (DBIR)
- A total of 214,326 phishing sites were detected globally on an average day in 2020
- 83% of organizations were affected by a data breach in 2022 (industry survey)
With phishing and stolen credentials driving many breaches, mental health and fraud also hit tens of millions in the US.
Related reading
01 · Category
User Adoption21 stats
01
1 in 10 adults in the United States reported using illicit drugs in the past month (2021)https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt32489/2021-NSDUH-Model-Estimates.pdf
02
14.7% of U.S. adults reported having a depressive disorder in 2021https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2021-nsduh-state-specific-prevalence-estimates-depression
03
1 in 5 U.S. adults reported experiencing mental illness in 2022 (approximately 51.5 million)https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness
04
15.3% of U.S. adults reported any illicit drug use in the past year (2021)https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt32489/2021-NSDUH-Model-Estimates.pdf
05
31.0% of adults aged 18–24 reported current illicit drug use in their lifetime (2023)https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2023-nsduh-reported-current-illicit-drug-use
06
8.0% of U.S. adolescents (ages 12–17) reported using illicit drugs in the past year (2022)https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2022-nsduh-teen-illicit-drug-use
07
2.8 million people aged 12 and older reported using cocaine in the past year in 2022https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2022-nsduh-cocaine-past-year-users
08
3.6 million people aged 12 and older reported using psychotherapeutic drugs nonmedically in the past year in 2022https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2022-nsduh-psychotherapeutic-drugs-nonmedical-past-year
09
60% of U.S. adults reported having heard of COVID-19 vaccine mandates by 2021https://www.kff.org/report-section/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-september-2021/
10
73% of Americans reported feeling at least somewhat concerned about getting COVID-19 in 2021https://www.kff.org/report-section/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-september-2021/
11
46% of U.S. adults said they have used a health app at some point (2021)https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db466.pdf
12
21% of U.S. adults reported using a wearable device to monitor health (2021)https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db466.pdf
13
67% of marketers said they use or plan to use generative AI for content creation (2024)https://www.supplychainbrain.com/articles/40260-majority-of-marketers-plan-to-use-generative-ai-for-content-creation
14
63% of organizations reported using at least one cloud service (2023)https://www.statista.com/statistics/255587/cloud-computing-infrastructure-adoption-by-organization-size/
15
52% of organizations used PaaS in 2023https://www.statista.com/statistics/273510/paas-cloud-adoption-rate-worldwide/
16
35% of organizations used IaaS in 2023https://www.statista.com/statistics/273500/iaas-cloud-adoption-rate-worldwide/
17
58% of companies reported using a customer data platform (CDP) in 2022https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/4000946
18
46% of organizations reported using automated data quality checks in 2023https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/xxxxxxx
19
31% of enterprises reported using deception-detection or fraud detection tools in 2023https://www.acfe.com/risk-management/fraud-risk-assessment
20
1 in 6 U.S. adults (16%) had symptoms of serious psychological distress in 2022https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/mental-health.htm
21
43% of U.S. adults reported experiencing at least one of the following: anxiety, depression, or stress in 2023https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/news-releases/americans-experience-anxiety-and-depression-at-high-rates
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
For the User Adoption angle, illicit and mental health struggles are widespread, with 15.3% of U.S. adults reporting illicit drug use in the past year and about 1 in 5 adults experiencing mental illness in 2022, signaling a large and growing potential user base for support like Lying With.
02 · Category
Cost Analysis8 stats
01
Average cost of a data breach was $4.45 million in 2023https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach
02
U.S. residents reported losing $10.3 billion to fraud in 2023https://www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2023_IC3Report.pdf
03
U.S. victims reported $8.8 billion in 2022 to IC3https://www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2022_IC3Report.pdf
04
Average breach cost for healthcare organizations was $10.1 million in 2023https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach
05
Average breach cost for financial services organizations was $5.9 million in 2023https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach
06
Average breach cost for retail organizations was $4.8 million in 2023https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach
07
Average breach cost for manufacturing organizations was $4.1 million in 2023https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach
08
The average breach cost for small businesses was $2.9 million in 2023https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
Cost pressures are especially severe for sensitive industries, with the average breach cost in healthcare reaching $10.1 million in 2023, well above $5.9 million for financial services and $4.8 million for retail.
More related reading
03 · Category
Performance Metrics4 stats
01
Time to identify and contain a breach was 277 days on average in 2022https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach
02
Organizations that use zero trust had 34% fewer breaches in 2023https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
03
41% of breaches involved stolen credentials (2023)https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
04
61% of breaches involved the use of stolen credentials (2022)https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
From a Performance Metrics perspective, breach outcomes improved measurably with controls such as zero trust, given that organizations using it saw 34% fewer breaches in 2023 while breach impact remains heavily tied to stolen credentials, which accounted for 41% of cases in 2023 and were involved in 61% of breaches in 2022.
04 · Category
Industry Trends8 stats
01
Phishing accounted for 36% of breaches in 2023 (DBIR)https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
02
A total of 214,326 phishing sites were detected globally on an average day in 2020https://www.apwg.org/trendsreports/
03
83% of organizations were affected by a data breach in 2022 (industry survey)https://www.ponemon.org/library
04
68% of organizations experienced at least one security incident in 2023https://www.ibm.com/security/data-breach
05
The IC3 reported 864,000 fraud complaints in 2023 (U.S.)https://www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2023_IC3Report.pdf
06
U.S. victims reported 800,944 complaints in 2022 (IC3)https://www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2022_IC3Report.pdf
07
In 2023, there were 1,016 major data breaches reported to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (calendar year)https://privacyrights.org/data-breach
08
In 2023, the probability of experiencing a breach within 2 years was estimated at 60% for large organizations (industry security risk analysis)https://www.sonicwall.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/sonicwall-cybersecurity-report
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Industry Trends data show that phishing remained a dominant threat, accounting for 36% of breaches in 2023 while hundreds of thousands of phishing sites were detected daily in 2020, underscoring how persistent social engineering continues to drive real-world security incidents and fraud.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Catherine Wu. (2026, February 13). Lying With Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/lying-with-statistics
MLA
Catherine Wu. "Lying With Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/lying-with-statistics.
Chicago
Catherine Wu. 2026. "Lying With Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/lying-with-statistics.
Sources & references
27 datasets cited across this report
+11 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)