New study shows staggering effect of coronavirus pandemic on America's mental health

When the novel coronavirus roared into the U.S., mental health took a back seat to physical health. The number one priority was making sure hospitals wouldn’t be overwhelmed and that as many lives as possible could be saved.

Schools closed, remote work became the norm, restaurants shuttered and getting together with friends was no longer possible. The news cycle spun with story after story highlighting the ever-increasing number of cases and deaths, while

Any one of these shifts could be expected to cause an increase in mental health issues. Put together, they created a

Experts

So I decided to collect data on mental health during the pandemic and compare it to data from before all of this happened. The differences were even worse than I anticipated.

On April 27, I surveyed 2,032 U.S. adults using

The results were staggering:

Clearly, the pandemic has had a devastating effect on mental health.

Yet some people are suffering more than others. Younger adults ages 18 to 44 – mostly

Why might this be the case? After all, the virus has

It could be because older people are more protected from the economic disruptions of the pandemic. Younger adults were

The other group in distress won’t be a surprise to parents: Those with children under 18 at home. With schools and day cares closed during the pandemic, many parents are trying to do the near-impossible by working and supervising their children at the same time.

This trend didn’t occur just because people with children at home are younger. Even among 18- to 44-year-olds, those with children at home showed larger increases in mental distress than those without kids.

In 2018, parents were actually less likely to be experiencing mental distress than those without children. But by the end of April 2020, parents were more likely to be in distress than their childless peers.

The findings of this study are preliminary. The 2020 and 2018 samples, though very similar in age, gender, race and region, came from different sources and thus might differ in other ways.

However, there are also other indications that mental health is suffering during the pandemic. For example, calls to mental health hotlines

This doesn’t necessarily mean we should open up the economy to preserve mental health. The resulting spike in illness and death from COVID-19 could be even worse for mental health, and workers required to return to their jobs may rightly worry about catching the virus.

It does mean policymakers need to be prepared for a potentially unprecedented number of Americans needing mental health services. Just as hospitals risked running out of ventilators during a surge of COVID-19 patients, the mental health care system might be quickly overwhelmed.

The survey also shows just how widespread the impact of the pandemic has been, and just how many people are suffering. If you have been feeling sad about everything that’s been lost – and nervous about the uncertainty of what comes next – you are not alone.

[You need to understand the coronavirus pandemic, and we can help.

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