From April 2019 to February 2023, anxiety and depression had by far the most searched-for mental illness symptoms in the United States, with more than 256.5 thousand and 233.5 thousand average monthly searches for each disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia and bipolar disorder were also frequently sought, ranging from 168.6 thousand to more than 91 thousand monthly searches. Additionally, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were by themselves the most searched mental illnesses in the country.

A survey conducted in 2022 found that young adults aged between 18 and 24 were more likely to suffer from moderate to severe stress, depression, and anxiety symptoms. That year, around 66 percent of respondents from this age group reported stress-related symptoms, while 25 percent of those aged 65 and older had similar symptoms. Similar age group trends were also noted for negative effects on wellbeing from feelings of loneliness. Additionally, fewer men than women were likely to report having mental health conditions such as stress, anxiety, and depression. Anxiety, depression, and stress in Europe In Europe, there is a notable variation in the prevalence of mental illnesses. Throughout the epidemic, depression and anxiety increased in all EU nations, affecting young people, particularly young women and those in financial difficulties. A study published by the OECD reported that 55 percent of adults residing in the EU were at risk of depression in 2022. Another study, published in the same year, found that more than half of the respondents surveyed in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Italy had reported experiencing stress. Anxiety, depression, and loneliness in the U.S. In the United States, anxiety, depression, and loneliness are prevalent issues affecting a significant portion of the population. According to a survey done in 2022, one-third of U.S. adults aged between 18 and 29 years mentioned that they “always” or “often” felt depressed or lonely in the past year. Over half of U.S. adults in the same age group reported that they felt anxious. Furthermore, adults with lower household incomes were more likely than those with higher household incomes to mention that they felt anxious, lonely, or depressed.

In the United States, the average share of adults reporting symptoms indicative of an anxiety or depressive disorder rose from 11 percent in 2019 to over 41 percent by the beginning of 2021. This statistic shows the percentage of adults reporting symptoms of an anxiety or depressive disorder in the United States from January to June 2019 versus January 2021.

We will study the immune cells of the brain in a model for high anxiety/depression. The model is developed by selective breeding. Animals are tested by the elevated plus maze test at the age of 7 weeks. This test lasts 5 minutes and measures anxiety-like behavior. The apparatus consists of closed and open arms. Animals with high anxiety tend to spent less time in the open arms (up to 10%) while normal anxiety animals tend to spent more time in the open arms (more than 30%). This way, animals were selected by their performance in the elavated plus maze and selectivly bred for high anxiety (HAB) and normal anxiety (NAB). In order to find biomarkers in the blood that let us know, what is going on in the brain, brain and blood cells need to be analyzed simultaniousely. This is not possible in human patients. Here, we can only analyze the blood. We aim to find biomarkers in the mouse blood that correlate with the state of the immune cells in the brain of HAB and NAB mice. This way, we can a) identify novel therapeutic targets and b) provide a marker to identify the sub-population of patients (by their blood compositon) that might benefit most from this therapeutic approach. The focus is here on the treatment-restistant population.

Mental Health has been declining over the last three years, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. A person’s support system can either improve or worsen their mental health. Nursing students likely have been severely impacted by COVID-19 and their support system may impact their mental health. This study used the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and the Social Support Scale to measure the effects of a positive and negative social support system on undergraduate nursing students at a university in the Western United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Descriptive statistics and correlations were used to examine the relationships between stress, anxiety, and depression and support systems among undergraduate nursing students. Data were collected from students prior to the start of their program through two pre-course surveys, including the DASS-21 symptom measure and a 11-item Social Support Scale. Both surveys had established reliability and validity. Results showed that 17.8% of participants scored with severe or extremely severe anxiety, 6.6% with severe or extremely severe depression and 6.7% with severe or extremely severe stress. The average score for instrumental support was M = 4.22 (SD = 0.72), positive support was M = 4.29 (SD = 0.73) and negative support was M = 3.96 (SD = 0.87). The correlational analyses support a significant relationship between negative support and stress (r = .26). The results indicate that nursing students had a strong positive and instrumental support system in place. The results also show a low number of students reporting negative social support. However, the significant correlation between negative social support and stress indicates the harmful effects of a negative support system on a student’s mental health when it did occur. These results help us to further understand how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the mental health of undergraduate nursing students.

Code that generates tables and figures found in the paper "Graduate Student Mental Health: Lessons from American Economics Departments." Data are confidential. Abstract:We study the mental health of graduate students at 8 top-ranked economics PhD programs in the U.S. using clinically validated surveys. We find that 24.8% experience moderate or severe symptoms of depression or anxiety - more than two times the population average. Though our response rate was 45.1% and sample selection concerns exist, conservative lower bounds nonetheless suggest higher prevalence rates of such symptoms than in the general population. Mental health issues are especially prevalent at the end of the PhD program: 36.7% of students in years 6+ of their program experience moderate or severe symptoms of depression or anxiety, versus 21.2% of first-year students. 25.2% of economics students with these symptoms are in treatment, compared to 41.4% of graduate students in other programs. A similar percentage of economics students (40-50%) say they cannot honestly discuss mental health with advisers as say they cannot easily discuss non-academic career options with them. Only 26% find their work to be useful always or most of the time, compared to 70% of economics faculty and 63% of the working age population. We provide recommendations for students, faculty, and administrators on ways to improve graduate student mental health.

BackgroundLittle is known about whether people who use both tobacco and cannabis (co-use) are more or less likely to have mental health disorders than single substance users or non-users. We aimed to examine associations between use of tobacco and/or cannabis with anxiety and depression.MethodsWe analyzed data from the COVID-19 Citizen Science Study, a digital cohort study, collected via online surveys during 2020–2022 from a convenience sample of 53,843 US adults (≥ 18 years old) nationwide. Past 30-day use of tobacco and cannabis was self-reported at baseline and categorized into four exclusive patterns: tobacco-only use, cannabis-only use, co-use of both substances, and non-use. Anxiety and depression were repeatedly measured in monthly surveys. To account for multiple assessments of mental health outcomes within a participant, we used Generalized Estimating Equations to examine associations between the patterns of tobacco and cannabis use with each outcome.ResultsIn the total sample (mean age 51.0 years old, 67.9% female), 4.9% reported tobacco-only use, 6.9% cannabis-only use, 1.6% co-use, and 86.6% non-use. Proportions of reporting anxiety and depression were highest for the co-use group (26.5% and 28.3%, respectively) and lowest for the non-use group (10.6% and 11.2%, respectively). Compared to non-use, the adjusted odds of mental health disorders were highest for co-use (Anxiety: OR = 1.89, 95%CI = 1.64–2.18; Depression: OR = 1.77, 95%CI = 1.46–2.16), followed by cannabis-only use, and tobacco-only use. Compared to tobacco-only use, co-use (OR = 1.35, 95%CI = 1.08–1.69) and cannabis-only use (OR = 1.17, 95%CI = 1.00–1.37) were associated with higher adjusted odds for anxiety, but not for depression. Daily use (vs. non-daily use) of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and cannabis were associated with higher adjusted odds for anxiety and depression.ConclusionsUse of tobacco and/or cannabis, particularly co-use of both substances, were associated with poor mental health. Integrating mental health support with tobacco and cannabis cessation may address this co-morbidity.

In 2023, around 59.2 million adults in the United States received treatment or counseling for their mental health within the past year. Such treatment included inpatient or outpatient treatment or counseling, or the use of prescription medication. Anxiety and depression are two common reasons for seeking mental health treatment. Who most often receives mental health treatment? In the United States, women are almost twice as likely than men to have received mental health treatment in the past year, with around 21 percent of adult women receiving some form of mental health treatment in the past year, as of 2021. Considering age, those between 18 and 44 years are more likely to receive counseling or therapy than older adults, however older adults are more likely to take medication to treat their mental health issues. Furthermore, mental health treatment in general is far more common among white adults in the U.S. than among other races or ethnicities. In 2020, around 24.4 percent of white adults received some form of mental health treatment in the past year compared to 15.3 percent of black adults and 12.6 percent of Hispanics. Reasons for not receiving mental health treatment Although stigma surrounding mental health treatment has declined over the last few decades and access to such services has greatly improved, many people in the United States who want or need treatment for mental health issues still do not get it. For example, it is estimated that almost half of women with some form of mental illness did not receive any treatment in the past year, as of 2022. Sadly, the most common reason for U.S. adults to not receive mental health treatment is that they thought they could handle the problem without treatment. Other common reasons for not receiving mental health treatment include not knowing where to go for services or could not afford the costs.

This statistic depicts the length of stay for mental health disorder-related hospitalizations in the U.S. in 2016, by diagnosis. According to the data, the average length of hospital stay among those with depressive disorder was 6.1 days.

This pretest was administered to students in the stress impact course. The test was completed both before and after the module and was internally developed by the research team. This instrument’s psychometrics are reported in Peterson et al., 2023. (XLSX)

This statistic depicts average prices of Cymbalta in 2013 in selected countries worldwide. In 2013, the price of Cymbalta averaged 52 U.S. dollars in the Netherlands. Cymbalta is a prescription drug used to treat depression, anxiety, and fibromyalgia. Prescription drug prices within the United States are among the highest in the world.

In 2023, around 17 percent of men in the United States received mental health treatment or counseling in the past year. The share of men who have received treatment for mental health problems has increased over the past couple decades likely due to a decrease in stigma around seeking such help and increased awareness of mental health issues. However, women in the U.S. are still much more likely to receive mental health treatment than men. Mental illness among men No one is immune to mental illness and the impact of mental health problems can be severe and debilitating. In 2023, it was estimated that 19 percent of men in the United States had some form of mental illness in the past year. Two of the most common mental disorders among men and women alike are anxiety disorders and depression. Depression is more common among men in their late teens and early 20s, with around 15 percent of U.S. men aged 21 to 25 years reporting experiencing a major depressive episode in the past year as of 2022. Depression is a very treatable condition, but those suffering from depression are at a much higher risk of suicide than those who do not have depression. Suicide among men Although women in the United States are more likely to report suffering from mental illness than men, the suicide rate among U.S. men is around 3.7 times higher than that of women. Suicide deaths among men are much more likely to involve the use of firearms, which may explain some of the disparity in suicide deaths between men and women. In 2020, around 58 percent of suicide deaths among men were from firearms compared to just 33 percent of suicide deaths among women. Although more people in the United States are accessing mental health, barriers to treatment persist. In 2022, the thought that they could handle the problem without treatment was the number one reason U.S. adults gave for not receiving the mental health treatment they required.

This table highlights the number of phobic and non-phobic individuals as well as the mean and median age groups of males and females.

Mean (SD), and between-group comparisons of direct evaluation on US expectation and valence ratings on empirical valence scale (100 points).

Background/ObjectivesLittle is known regarding the prevalence and predictors of prolonged cognitive and psychological symptoms of COVID-19 among community-dwellers. We aimed to quantitatively measure self-reported metrics of fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, anxiety, depression, and sleep and identify factors associated with these metrics among United States residents with or without COVID-19.MethodsWe solicited 1000 adult United States residents for an online survey conducted February 3–5, 2021 utilizing a commercial crowdsourcing community research platform. The platform curates eligible participants to approximate United States demographics by age, sex, and race proportions. COVID-19 was diagnosed by laboratory testing and/or by exposure to a known positive contact with subsequent typical symptoms. Prolonged COVID-19 was self-reported and coded for those with symptoms ≥ 1 month following initial diagnosis. The primary outcomes were NIH PROMIS/Neuro-QoL short-form T-scores for fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, anxiety, depression, and sleep compared among those with prolonged COVID-19 symptoms, COVID-19 without prolonged symptoms and COVID-19 negative subjects. Multivariable backwards step-wise logistic regression models were constructed to predict abnormal Neuro-QoL metrics.ResultsAmong 999 respondents, the average age was 45 years (range 18–84), 49% were male, 76 (7.6%) had a history of COVID-19 and 19/76 (25%) COVID-19 positive participants reported prolonged symptoms lasting a median of 4 months (range 1–13). Prolonged COVID-19 participants were more often younger, female, Hispanic, and had a history of depression/mood/thought disorder (all P < 0.05). They experienced significantly higher rates of unemployment and financial insecurity, and their symptoms created greater interference with work and household activities compared to other COVID-19 status groups (all P < 0.05). After adjusting for demographics, past medical history and stressor covariates in multivariable logistic regression analysis, COVID-19 status was independently predictive of worse Neuro-QoL cognitive dysfunction scores (adjusted OR 11.52, 95% CI 1.01–2.28, P = 0.047), but there were no significant differences in quantitative measures of anxiety, depression, fatigue, or sleep.ConclusionProlonged symptoms occurred in 25% of COVID-19 positive participants, and NeuroQoL cognitive dysfunction scores were significantly worse among COVID-19 positive subjects, even after accounting for demographic and stressor covariates. Fatigue, anxiety, depression, and sleep scores did not differ between COVID-19 positive and negative respondents.

Anxiety caused by driving (e.g., driving anxiety) can greatly impact individuals’ mobility and lead to partial or complete driving cessation. Previous research focused on the causes of driving anxiety and quantifying its severity. No studies have centered on how individuals manage their symptoms. The purpose of this study was to learn how and what management strategies individuals utilize to combat anxiety triggers while driving. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals from Jan-March 2024. Participants had to be ≥18 years of age at time of study, reside in the United States, and experienced or were concerned about their driving anxiety. Participants were recruited through email and advertisements using non-probability sampling techniques. The interviews were conducted using a standardized, pilot tested script and were audio recorded and transcribed. A thematic analysis with inductive coding was performed to determine themes. Ten female participants (mean age 40.8 years) were recruited. Five themes emerged: past trauma, 2) environmental factors and their inability to control them, 3) within and out-of-vehicle coping strategies (subthemes: distraction, reliance on others, and avoidance), 4) out of control in unfamiliar situations or fear of hurting self, others, or property, and 5) honoring responsibilities, being independent and maintaining relationships. While management strategies were individualistic, most participants attempted to distract themselves from their feelings, relied on others to deal with their symptoms, or avoided situations that aggravated their anxiety. These management strategies enabled participants to continue driving in spite of their symptoms and allowed them to honor commitments, maintain independence, and sustain relationships. However, these strategies could also inadvertently impact individuals’ safety while driving and/or their mental health. These findings could inform clinical practice and future research.

Anxiety caused by driving (e.g., driving anxiety) can greatly impact individuals’ mobility and lead to partial or complete driving cessation. Previous research focused on the causes of driving anxiety and quantifying its severity. No studies have centered on how individuals manage their symptoms. The purpose of this study was to learn how and what management strategies individuals utilize to combat anxiety triggers while driving. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals from Jan-March 2024. Participants had to be ≥18 years of age at time of study, reside in the United States, and experienced or were concerned about their driving anxiety. Participants were recruited through email and advertisements using non-probability sampling techniques. The interviews were conducted using a standardized, pilot tested script and were audio recorded and transcribed. A thematic analysis with inductive coding was performed to determine themes. Ten female participants (mean age 40.8 years) were recruited. Five themes emerged: past trauma, 2) environmental factors and their inability to control them, 3) within and out-of-vehicle coping strategies (subthemes: distraction, reliance on others, and avoidance), 4) out of control in unfamiliar situations or fear of hurting self, others, or property, and 5) honoring responsibilities, being independent and maintaining relationships. While management strategies were individualistic, most participants attempted to distract themselves from their feelings, relied on others to deal with their symptoms, or avoided situations that aggravated their anxiety. These management strategies enabled participants to continue driving in spite of their symptoms and allowed them to honor commitments, maintain independence, and sustain relationships. However, these strategies could also inadvertently impact individuals’ safety while driving and/or their mental health. These findings could inform clinical practice and future research.

Surveys fielded in 2023 in 142 countries around the world found that the countries/regions in which people were most likely to state that they experienced stress in the previous day were Northern Cyprus, Israel, and Nigeria. In Israel, around 62 percent of respondents reported feeling stressed in the day prior to being surveyed. Stress is a major health problem around the world In 2023, a survey of adults from 31 countries asked what the biggest health problems facing their country were, and stress was the third most common response, behind cancer and mental health. The countries most likely to report stress as the biggest health problem in their country were South Korea, Turkey, and Switzerland. At that time, around 44 percent of people in South Korea felt stress was their country’s biggest health problem, compared to just 15 percent of people in India and Great Britain. Young people worldwide are more likely to report moderate to severe symptoms of stress, but still, a quarter of those aged 65 years and older reported having moderate to severe symptoms of stress in 2022. Causes of stress and its impact Although stress is a global problem, the causes of stress can vary from country to country. In the United States, some common sources of stress include personal finances, politics and current events, relationships with family and friends, and work. How stress manifests itself also differs, but common symptoms of stress include headache, fatigue, feeling nervous or anxious, feeling sad or depressed, and a loss of interest, motivation, and energy. A recent survey of U.S. adults found that around 36 percent stated that their mental health is negatively impacted when they feel stressed, while 32 percent said stress impacts their physical health. Some healthy ways to cope with stress include avoiding possible stress triggers like reading the news too often, exercising, eating healthy, talking to others, and avoiding drugs and alcohol.

BackgroundVeterans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and related identities (LGBTQ+) have faced discrimination that puts them at increased risk for depression, anxiety, and suicide. Upstream interventions like the PRIDE in All Who Served program can improve internalized prejudice, suicidality, symptoms of depression, and symptoms of anxiety by addressing minority stress, facilitating social connection, and promoting engagement with the healthcare system. Yet, little is known about who benefits most from these types of services.Methods and materialsSixty-six US military veterans (Mean age = 47.06, SD = 13.74) provided outcome surveys before and after a 10-week health promotion group for LGBTQ+ individuals at one of 10 Veterans Health Administration (VA) Medical Centers. Subscales of a coping self-efficacy measure (e.g., problem-solving, social support, thought-stopping), and demographic factors were examined as moderators of treatment outcomes.ResultsCoping self-efficacy moderated effects across treatment outcomes with those lower in coping self-efficacy beliefs reporting the greatest benefit of the intervention. Reduction in anxiety symptoms was moderated only by problem-solving coping self-efficacy, while suicidality was moderated only by social support. Reduction of internalized prejudice and depression symptoms were moderated by both problem-solving and social support coping self-efficacy, while thought-stopping (a frequent target of traditional cognitive therapies) only moderated internalized prejudice, but not clinical symptom indicators. Most demographic factors (e.g., age, race, gender) did not impact treatment outcomes; however, sexual orientation was significant such that those who identified as bisexual, queer, or something else (e.g., pansexual) had greater reductions in internalized prejudice than their single gender-attracted peers.Discussion and conclusionIndividual differences like coping self-efficacy and sexual orientation are rarely considered in clinical care settings when shaping policy or implementing tailored programs. Understanding implications for who is most likely to improve could inform program refinement and implementation of affirming interventions for minoritized people.

There was a large spike in gun purchases and gun violence during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. We used an online U.S. national survey (N = 1036) to examine the characteristics of people who purchased a gun between March 2020 and October 2021 (n = 103) and compared them to non-gun owners (n = 763) and people who own a gun but did not purchase a gun during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 170). Compared to non-gun owners, pandemic gun buyers were younger and more likely to be male, White race, and to affiliate with the Republican party. Compared to non-gun owners and pre-pandemic gun owners, pandemic gun buyers exhibited extreme elevations on a constellation of political (QAnon beliefs, pro-gun attitudes, Christian Nationalism, approval of former President Donald Trump, anti-vax beliefs, COVID-19 skepticism; mean Cohen’s d = 1.15), behavioral (intimate partner violence, antisocial behavior; mean d = 1.38), mental health (suicidality, depression, anxiety, substance use; mean d = 1.21), and personality (desire for power, belief in a dangerous world, low agreeableness, low conscientiousness; mean d = 0.95) characteristics. In contrast, pre-pandemic gun owners only endorsed more pro-gun attitudes (d = 0.67), lower approval of President Joe Biden (d = -0.41) and were more likely to be male and affiliate with the Republican party relative to non-gun owners. Pandemic gun buyers represent an extreme group in terms of political and psychological characteristics including several risk-factors for violence and self-harm.