Changes in Prevalence of Mental Illness Among US Adults During Compared with Before the COVID-19 Pandemic

Synopsis: We review trend and cohort surveys and administrative data comparing prevalence of mental disorders during, versus, and before the COVID-19 pandemic along with changes in mental health disparities. The best evidence suggests that clinically significant anxiety-depression point prevalence increased by RR=1.3-1.5 during the pandemic compared to before. Although substantial, this level of increase is much less than the implausibly high RR=5.0-8.0 estimates reported in trend studies early in the pandemic based on less appropriate comparisons. Disparities in anxiety-depression prevalence appear to have increased since before the pandemic among people younger than 60 years of age, racial/ethnic minorities, and people with less than a 4-year college degree. Changes in prevalence also occurred during the pandemic, but relative prevalence appears not to have changed substantially over this time based on sex, age, education, or race/ethnicity.