Symptoms of Anxiety or Depressive Disorder

Health
Written By Alysha Rashid

33% of Americans report symptoms of anxiety or depression, up from 11% in 2019. The South had 7 of 8 states with the highest rates.

Symptoms of anxiety or depression, Mar 1-13, 2023

Percent of adults who experienced symptoms of anxiety or depression in the last two weeks

Source: CDC and Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey. Notes: This indicator is based on self-report of the frequency of anxiety and depression symptoms, derived from responses to the first two questions of the eight-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) and the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-2) scale.

Though pandemic concerns have eased, Americans face a growing mental health crisis. The percent of adults in the U.S. reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression has tripled from 11% in 2019 to 33% in March 2023.1 7 out of the 8 states with the highest rates were in the South: WV (42%), MS (40%), AL (39%), KY (38%), LA (37%), FL (36%), and AR (36%). WV also has the highest drug overdose death rate in the nation (Drug Overdose Deaths). KY and LA are also among the 5 worst states for drug overdose deaths. The effects of this mental health crisis continue to become clear, with increasing incidence of substance abuse, drug overdose and alcohol-induced deaths, gun violence, and road rage incidents and other vehicular fatalities.2,3,4,5,6,7

In addition to the economic, racial, political, and cultural tensions exacerbated by the pandemic, growing evidence is revealing that air pollution contributes to higher levels of depression and anxiety.8,9,10,11 As climate disasters increase across the South, they also may contribute to increasing air pollution which can compound issues of depression and anxiety overtime (Disaster declarations) .12,13

  1. “Anxiety and Depression”. CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/mental-health.htm

  2. “The Implications of COVID-19 for Mental Health and Substance Use”. Panchal, Saunders, Rudowitz, and Cox. March, 2023. https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/the-implications-of-covid-19-for-mental-health-and-substance-use/#anxietyanddepression

  3. “Rate of Deaths Involving Any Drug in the United States in 2020: 28.3 (per 100,000 Population”. https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/dcdd/viz/04_DrugOverdose/04_DrugOverdose

  4. “Effect of increased alcohol consumption during COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol-associated liver disease: A modeling study”. Julien, Ayer, Tapper, Barbosa, Dowd, and Chhatwal. AASLD. December, 2021. https://aasldpubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/hep.32272

  5. “As gun violence reaches record levels in the US, an underlying trauma may be building up”. McPhillips. CNN Health. April, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/17/health/mass-shootings-mental-health/index.html

  6. “2020 Fatality Data Show Increased Traffic Fatalities During Pandemic”. U.S. Department of Transportation. June, 2021. https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/2020-fatality-data-show-increased-traffic-fatalities-during-pandemic

  7. “Road Rage Shootings Are Continuing to Surge”. Burd-Sharps, Tetens, and Szkola. Everytown. March, 2023. https://everytownresearch.org/reports-of-road-rage-shootings-are-on-the-rise/

  8. “A Path Forward”. Blanding, Dehler. Vanderbilt University. November, 2022. https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2022/11/07/a-path-forward-amid-an-unprecedented-mental-health-crisis-vanderbilt-research-provides-new-insights-possible-solutions/

  9. “At least four-in-ten U.S. adults have faced high levels of psychological distress during COVID-19 pandemic”. Pasquini, Keeter. Pew. December, 2022. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/12/12/at-least-four-in-ten-u-s-adults-have-faced-high-levels-of-psychological-distress-during-covid-19-pandemic/

  10. “Long-term Exposure to Multiple Ambient Air Pollutants and Association With Incident Depression and Anxiety”. Yang, Wang, Huang, et al. JAMA Network. February, 2023. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2801116

  11. “Air pollution, depressive and anxiety disorders, and brain effects: A systematic review”. Zundel, Ryan, Broakmp, Heeter, Huang, Strawn, and Marusak. NeuroToxicology. December, 2022. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0161813X22001668?via%3Dihub 

  12. “Air Pollution and Disasters”. Chandrappa, Kulshrestha. Sustainable Air Pollution Management. August, 2022. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7121041/

  13. “Air Quality and Climate Change Research”. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/air-research/air-quality-and-climate-change-research 

Alysha Rashid
Previous

Child Poverty
Next

Youth Mental Health