Anxiety and depression rates remain double pre-COVID levels

A question recently added to one of the Census Bureau’s on-going major national surveys shows that two in five American adults sometimes, rarely or never receive the social and emotional support they need. Moreover, one in five adults report symptoms of anxiety, depression or both. 

To wrap up Mental Health Awareness month, we took a look at data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest Household Pulse Survey. Our analysis suggests that mental health conditions remain much more prevalent today than they were prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example:  

• An estimated 18 percent of American adult report symptoms associated with the diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder according to a survey conducted January through April 2024. This is more than double the pre-pandemic rate of anxiety. 

• Thirteen percent of American adults report symptoms associated with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder. This is also more than double the pre-pandemic rate. 

Comparing the recent rates of anxiety and depression by state, Minnesota ranks as the 19th least anxious state and the 10th least depressed. And if you take the average of all the rates reported since the beginning of the survey in May 2020 through the most recent phase this spring, Minnesota is the least depressed and second-least anxious state.  

Minnesota also ranks well in terms of social and emotional support. Thirty-five percent of Minnesotans report sometimes, rarely or never receiving the social or emotional support they need, making the state’s population the fourth most supported in the nation. Still, that leaves over one-third of adults in the state lacking in the social and emotional support they need. 

The survey does not include enough Minnesotans to conduct a detailed analysis of the which groups are most commonly in need of mental health supports. Nationally, however, certain subpopulations — including many who have been marginalized historically — experience anxiety or depression at higher rates. These groups include young adults, LGBTQ+ Americans and those with a disability.  

Many in these same groups indicate that they lack needed social and emotional support, including over half of all adults with a disability, those identifying as transgender and bisexual as well as adults with a high school diploma or less education.

Relatively large proportions of some groups of Americans expressed a lack of social and emotional support even while they reported lower rates of anxiety or depression, including those between the ages of 30 and 60 and cisgender males.  

Looking at race and ethnicity, non-Hispanic Americans of other and multiple races have the highest rates of anxiety and depression compared to others.  

Hispanic or Latino Americans and Asian Americans report high rates of not receiving the social and emotional support they need and much lower rates of anxiety or depression, followed closely by Black Americans.

In particular, 15 percent of Asian Americans report symptoms associated with anxiety or depression, the lowest rate across all racial and ethnic groups, while nearly half report a lack of social and emotional support 

The Minnesota Department of Health has an excellent page with various mental health resources, including the number for a Minnesota Peer Support Connection Warmline. Call or text 844-739-6369 (5 p.m. to 9 a.m.) to talk to a peer. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Free, confidential support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.   

COVID-19 levels remain low but steady amidst continued rise of new FLiRT variants 

Overall COVID-19 activity remains low in the state, as measured by COVID-related hospitalizations, deaths and levels measured in wastewater.  

While low, COVID-19 hospital admissions are stubbornly stuck at about 70 per week in the state for the fifth consecutive week, so far not falling to the even lower hospitalization rates reported by the Minnesota Department of Health last June and July. Similarly, the number of COVID-19 related deaths per week in Minnesota has hovered in the low double-digits since March.  

The story told by a trendline of COVID-19 levels detected in samples taken from wastewater treatment plants throughout the state is slightly more complicated. Levels are up by 20 percent this week, following a much smaller three percent increase the week prior. As the longer trendline shows, however, levels remain well below what they were six months ago.  

The relatively small upticks in COVID-19 as measured in wastewater might not be worth mentioning if it were not for the arrival of new COVID-19 variants. COVID continues to mutate, and the newest “FLiRT” variants have now taken over.  

The most recent Minnesota-specific data show that about one-quarter of sequenced COVID-19 cases were from the FLiRT lineage in early April, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s more up-to-date estimates suggest that the previously dominant variant, JN.1, is now responsible for less than 10 percent of cases. 

In his most recent podcast, Micheal Osterholm, Director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, reports that COVID is on the rise in “Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom … And in Singapore, notably, the rise has occurred at the same time that the FLiRT variants climbed in prevalence.”  

He notes, however, that COVID-19 activity remains fairly low even in those nations that have seen recent increases, and that so far the FLiRT variants have not resulted in a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations or deaths here in the United States. 

• Suicides in the U.S. military increased in 2023, continuing a long-term trend
• MinnesotaCare applications now open to Minnesotans regardless of immigration status
• How are you feeling a week after the election?
• What happens when a vaccine skeptic leads health policy? Ask Florida