(Reuters) – More young adults in the United States reported feeling anxious or depressed during the last six months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and fewer people reported receiving the help they needed, according to a U.S. government study released. on Friday.
The percentage of adults under 30 with recent symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder increased significantly about five months after the US imposed COVID-19-related blocks and reported an increase in deaths from rapidly spreading viruses.
Between August 2020 and February 2021, that number rose from 36.4% to 41.5%, as did the percentage of people who reported that they needed, but did not receive, mental health counseling.
The study suggests that the increase in reported anxiety or depressive disorder symptoms correspond to the weekly number of reported COVID-19 cases.
The findings are based on a Domestic Pulse Survey conducted by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Census Bureau to monitor changes in mental health status and access to care during the pandemic.
“Mental health trends can be used to assess the impact of strategies that address adult mental health status and care during the pandemic,” wrote the study’s authors in the CDC’s Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report released on Friday.
The study also found that those with less than high school were more at risk, although it did not provide an explanation for this.
Even with more vaccines being authorized since the end of 2020, the effects of the pandemic on mental health continued into 2021.
From January 20, 2021 to February 1, 2021, about two in five adults over the age of 18 experienced recent symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, the research found.
Demand for mental health and meditation apps, and investments in technology startups that create those apps, also increased during this period.
Reporting by Vishwadha Chander in Bengaluru; Editing by Caroline Humer and Shailesh Kuber