Mental illness increased during the coronavirus pandemic, with young adults being hit particularly hard.
New research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that from August 2020 to February 2021, the number of adults reporting symptoms of depression or anxiety rose from 36.4% to 41.5%. But the numbers were much worse for young adults. Depression and anxiety increased for those aged 18-29 from 49% to 57%.
The numbers for those needing counseling or therapy but who did not receive it showed a similar pattern. It rose from 9.2% to 11.7% for all adults, while for those aged 18-29, it rose from 15.6% to 22.8%.
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“Social restrictions, limits on operating nonessential businesses, and other measures to reduce pandemic-related mortality and morbidity can lead to isolation and unemployment or underemployment, further increasing the risk for mental health problems,” according to the CDC.
The CDC used survey data from the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey for the study.
Data prior to and during the pandemic have reinforced the idea that the pandemic has resulted in increased mental illness, especially among younger adults.
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A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the percentage of people who had depression was 8.5% among all adults prior to the pandemic and 27.8% early in the pandemic. For those aged 18-39, the percentage of those with depression increased from 9% to 38.8%.
