A large study finds a dramatic increase in the number of adults in the United States reporting symptoms of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. Share on Pinterest Recent data indicate that the number of adults with depression symptoms in the U.S. has increased threefold during the pandemic. The number of adults experiencing depression in the U.S. has tripled, according to a major study. Researchers estimate that more than 1 in 4 U.S. adults now report experiencing symptoms of depression. Before the pandemic, 8.5% of U.S. adults reported being depressed. That number has risen to 27.8% as the country struggles with COVID-19. Prof. Sandro Galea, a dean at Boston University (BU) School of Public Health, MA, is senior author of the study. Stay informed with live updates on the current COVID-19 outbreak and visit our coronavirus hub for more advice on prevention and treatment. “Depression in the general population after prior large-scale traumatic events has been observed to, at most, double,” he notes. While reports of depression have increased in response to earlier crises, such as the 9/11 attack and the spread of Ebola in West Africa, the extent of this recent finding is something new. The study features in the journal JAMA Network Open. The Rockefeller Foundation–Boston University 3-D Commission and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provided funding for the research.
About the study The BU study is the first large-scale investigation into America’s mental health in response to COVID-19. To measure the prevalence of depression symptoms among the population, the researchers worked with mental health professionals’ leading tool for this purpose: the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). The researchers used the 2017–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) as a baseline measurement of depression rates before the beginning of the pandemic. A total of 5,065 individuals responded to that survey. They compared these data with the findings of the COVID-19 and Life Stressors Impact on Mental Health and Well-being (CLIMB) study, which surveyed 1,441 U.S. adults between March 31 and April 13, 2020. This study also used PHQ-9, facilitating the comparison of changes in the prevalence of depression among the population. Although the 2020 survey took place relatively early in the pandemic, by the time it was complete, stay-at-home advisories and shelter-in-place orders were in place for about 96% of the public.
T1Pimp on September 19th, 2020 at 13:58 UTC »
I could survive this pandemic. It's the constant gaslighting that's so hard for me.
friendofredjenny on September 19th, 2020 at 13:41 UTC »
I believe it. I work intake support at a psychiatric hospital. We have definitely seen an increase over the last few months in patients presenting to our walk-in clinic and for admission with deep hopelessness and crushing anxiety.
RandomChurn on September 19th, 2020 at 13:00 UTC »
The number of people who have a genetic predisposition to depression may never get it without a triggering event.
OTOH I think you need to be quite robust mentally — uncommonly so — in order to navigate all this without suffering mentally, whether by having trouble sleeping, concentrating, keeping feelings proportional to facts, managing anxiety, anger, frustration.
Someone would need to be the mental-health equivalent of an Olympian to get through this unscathed.
We have every right and reason to be depressed. We need to take the best care of ourselves as we can, and be forgiving and tolerant of lapses — both our own and those of others.
People be nuts now.