More than a quarter of U.S. 18-24-year-olds and nearly a third of adult caregivers considered serious suicide in June because the coronavirus pandemic has a major adverse effect on mental health. The finding, reported in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Week on Friday, was based on a survey of 5,412 people conducted by Qualtrics between June 24-30. The coronavirus pandemic has been linked to an increase in mental health problems for several reasons, including both the morbidity of the disease itself, and problems with mitigation such as social distance and home stay orders. Some 40.9% of respondents generally reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health status: 31% said they had symptoms of anxiety or depression in the 30 days before taking the survey, while 26% reported trauma or stress related symptoms. Some 13% of respondents reported the onset or increase of drug use as a coping mechanism, while overall 11% of respondents said they had seriously considered suicide. However, the pandemic appears to have a particularly damaging effect on people in the 18-24 age group. Some 75% of teens reported having at least one negative mental or behavioral illness, making them by far the most influential demographic. Symptoms of anxiety or depression were most commonly experienced, with 63% of 18-24 year olds reporting anxiety-related symptoms. Nearly half (46%) reported symptoms of a trauma and stress-related disorder TSRD, while a quarter (25%) reported using drugs to treat pandemic-related stress or emotions. And 25.5% of young people said they had considered serious suicide within 30 days before taking the survey. Unpaid caregivers were also vulnerable, with two-thirds reporting at least one negative effect, again, the most common being anxiety or depression, which affected 58% of caregivers. Some 31% of caregivers had committed suicide. The next most affected demographics were those whose level of education was less than a high school diploma: 30% of the people within that demographic had suicidal feelings, while 66% had experienced at least one negative effect. Knowledge of someone who died from COVID-19 has been shown to have little effect on whether or not humans have a severe impact on mental health. Some 40.1% of those who knew someone had died of the disease reported experiencing unusual mental health, compared to 41% of those who personally did not know anyone who had died of COVID-19 . Similarly, 13.4% of those who did not know someone who had died of the disease had recently experienced suicidal thoughts, against 11.3% of those who knew someone had died. The findings were a significant increase from those reported for the same period in 2019: instances of anxiety disorder were nearly displaced (25.5% versus 8.1% in 2019); and prevalence of depressive disorder was approximately four times that reported in 2019 (24.3% vs. 6.5%). Figures of suicidal ideation were compared with 2018 results, and showed a doubling of suicidal ideation within that time.
