A third of Americans now show signs of anxiety or depression

A third of Americans are showing signs of clinical anxiety or depression, Census Bureau data shows, the most definitive and alarming sign yet of the psychological toll exacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

When asked questions normally used to screen patients for mental health problems, 24% showed clinically significant symptoms of major depressive disorder and 30% showed symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder.

The findings suggest a huge jump from before the pandemic. For example, on one question about depressed mood, the percentage reporting such symptoms was double that found in a 2014 national survey.

The troubling statistics were released in a tranche of data from the Census Bureau. The agency launched an emergency weekly survey of U.S. households at the end of April to measure the pandemic’s effects on employment, housing, finances, education and health.

In the most recent data release, 1 million households were contacted between May 7 and 12, and more than 42,000 responded.

U.S. officials included four questions taken nearly wordfor-word from a form used by doctors to screen patients for depression and anxiety. Those answers provide a real-time window into the country’s collective mental health after three months of fear, isolation, soaring unemployment and continuing uncertainty.

Some groups have been hit harder than others. Rates of anxiety and depression were far higher among younger adults, women and the poor.

It reflects a deepening of existing trends: depression, stress and suicide among young adults.

“It’s been a problem many have been studying with no clear answers — whether it’s social media or the way this generation was reared or just a greater willingness to talk about their problems,” said Maria Oquendo, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania.