COVID-19 & IT'S MENTAL HEALTH EFFECTS

Living through the pandemic, and finding out how it affected adults and their mental state, became the focus of a study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from mid-2020, to mid-2021. But before diving into that study, researchers pointed out data from a previous study, which found adults between the ages of 18 to 29-years-old had the largest increase of anxiety and depression as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

To find out more about adults and their mental health during the pandemic, the CDC took it a step further and did even more research. They did so, but partnering with the U.S. Census Bureau, and looked at the national trend of that same topic and found similar results.

By using this online survey, over the course of a 9-month period, results from it found that anxiety increased 13% among adults, from August 2020, to December 2020, and depression increased 14.8% during the same time period.

Research from the same study also found, that what played a part in helping to drive up the frequency of anxiety and depression felt from the participants, was directly linked to the average of new daily COVID-19 cases.

After that, other researchers conducted their own study with the CDC. The focus of that study was based on finding the people who chose to get the professional help they needed to cope mentally during the pandemic.

To find those answers, the CDC teamed up with the U.S. Census Bureau and National Center for Health Statistics.

Researchers obtained the information after using a 20-minute online survey that asked three specific questions related to mental health and treatment due to the COVID-19. The survey, by the way, was first given in April 2020, in different phases, and is the experiment is still ongoing until May 2022.

One question that was asked was, “at any time in the last 4 weeks, did you receive counseling or therapy from a mental health professional such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric nurse, or clinical social worker? Include counseling or therapy online or by phone.”

On a national level, the results found only 10.3% of adults, sought out the mental health help from a therapist.

On a local level, Florida, the survey found that 10.9% of the people who live in the state did receive counseling and or therapy related to the pandemic.

The findings from this research is also laid out in chronological order in the infographic attached to the article.