COVID-19 Has Likely Tripled Depression Rates in the US

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to sicken millions and claim the lives of thousands of people in the US, as millions lose their jobs, as parents and teachers worry about kids going back to school, as renters face eviction and homeowners face foreclosures… it may not come as a surprise that mental health in the general population is far from good right now.

But a first-of-its-kind School of Public Health study finds that this unprecedented time has more than tripled the prevalence of depression symptoms in the US, from 8.5 percent of adults before the pandemic to 27.8 percent as of mid-April.

The findings are published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Release date: 2 September 2020