COVID-19 and Mental Health: What We Are Learning from - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

COVID-19 and Mental Health: What We Are Learning from www.mhascreening.org June 1, 2020 Paul Gionfriddo President and CEO

2 Mental Health and COVID-19: More Than 88,000 Impacted by Anxiety and Depression  Since the beginning of the worry about COVID-19 in mid-to-late February, there have been at least 88,405 additional positive depression and anxiety screening results over what had been expected (using November 2019-January 2020 average as a baseline).  There have been 54,093 additional moderate to severe depression and more than 34,312 additional moderate to severe anxiety screening results from late February through the end of May .  The per day number of anxiety screenings completed in May was 370% higher than in January, before coronavirus stress began. The per day number of depression screens was 394% higher in May than in January.  These impacts on mental health are more pronounced in young people (<25): roughly 9 in 10 are screening with moderate-to-severe depression, and 8 in 10 are screening with moderate-to-severe anxiety.

3 Mental Health and COVID-19: Thoughts of Suicide & Self-Harm at Epidemic Levels  “Loneliness and isolation” is cited by the greatest percent of moderate to severe depression (73%) and anxiety (62%) screeners as contributing to mental health problems “right now.” These percentages have been steady since mid-April.  Despite a dramatic jump in screeners in May (more than 211,945 versus 69,626 in April), severity continued to track equal to or higher than our pre-pandemic baselines.  In May 2020, 21,165 depression screeners reported thinking of suicide or self-harm on more than half of days to nearly every day, with 11,894 reporting these thoughts nearly every day.  Special populations are also experiencing high anxiety and depression, including LGBTQ, caregivers, students, veterans/active duty, and people with chronic health conditions.  This isn’t just affecting people with anxiety and depression, but other mental health conditions, too. Among psychosis screeners in May, more than 16,000 were at risk, and the percentage at risk (73%) also increased.

6 MHA Screening (www.mhascreening.org): Nearly 5 Million Completed Screens Depression (PHQ-9 ) Anxiety (GAD-7) Bipolar (MDQ) Youth Screen Parent Screen PTSD (PC-PTSD) (PSC-YR) (PSC) Alcohol and Psychosis Screen Substance Use (Ultra-High Risk) Eating Disorders Screen (CAGE- (PQ-B) AID)

5 MHA Screening • Began in April 2014. • Access to screening tools is free and anonymous at www.mhascreening.org. • Most screeners voluntarily give de-identified demographic data. • Screeners are young, (63% < 25 years), female (72%). • Help-seeking population (74% positive). • Otherwise representative of the population.

6 In May, Per Day Anxiety Screenings Increased by 370% over January 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 1/1 - 1/31 2/1 - 2/29 3/1 - 3/31 4/1 - 4/30 5/1 - 5/31

7 In April, Per Day Depression Screenings Increased by 394% over January 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 January February March April May Depression Screenings

8 More Than 34,312 Additional Screeners Have Anxiety Since COVID-19 Pandemic 25000 Excess Moderate-to-Severe screening results above the Nov-Jan 3-month average (2606 moderate, 3689 severe) 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 Feb Mar Apr May Total Moderate Severe

9 More Than 54,093 Additional Screeners Have Depression Since COVID-19 Pandemic Excess Moderate to Severe Depression Screens above the previous 3-month average (10,867 moderate to severe) 50000 45000 40000 35000 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 February March April May

10 April Anxiety Screeners: The Main Things Contributing to Mental Health Problems Right Now? Loneliness/Isolation #1 Reason Number of Responses Percent of Respondents Loneliness/Isolation 3337 60% Past Trauma 2547 46% COVID-19 2491 45% Relationship Probs. 2121 38% Current Events 1728 31% Financial Probs. 1454 26% Grief 1336 24% N=5,525, scoring moderate to severe 4/13-4/30, “Choose up to 3”

11 May Anxiety Screeners: The Main Things Contributing to Mental Health Problems Right Now Reason Number of Responders Percent of Respondents Loneliness or isolation 15934 62.14% Past trauma 12219 47.65% Relationship problems 10540 41.10% Coronavirus 9326 36.37% Current events (news, politics, etc.) 7542 29.41% Grief or loss 6489 25.31% Financial Problems 6315 24.63% N=25,643, scoring moderate to severe 5/1-5/31, “Choose up to 3”

12 April Depression Screeners: The Main Things Contributing to Mental Health Problems Right Now? Loneliness/Isolation #1 Reason Number of Responses Percent of Respondents Loneliness/Isolation 6492 72% Past Trauma 4230 47% Relationship Probs. 3885 43% COVID-19 2874 32% Grief 2453 27% Financial Probs. 2128 24% Current Events 1906 21% N=8,989 scoring moderate to severe, collected 4/13-4/30, “Choose up to 3”

13 May Depression Screeners: The Main Things Contributing to Mental Health Problems Right Now Reason Number of Responders Percent of Respondents Loneliness or isolation 32910 72.59% Past trauma 20931 46.17% Relationship problems 20100 44.34% Coronavirus 13703 30.23% Grief or loss 12413 27.38% Financial Problems 10142 22.37% Current events (news, politics, etc.) 9868 21.77% N=45,335, scoring moderate to severe 5/1-5/31, “Choose up to 3”

14 Screeners Are Not “Worried Well”: Depression Severity Higher In March-May v. Jan-Feb Depression Screeners, Percent Moderate to Severe 100.00% 95.00% 90.00% 85.00% 80.00% 75.00% 70.00% 65.00% 60.00% 55.00% 50.00% Jan Feb Mar Apr May

15 More Than 21,000 People Considered Self-Harm or Suicide in May Suicidal/Self-Harm Thinking 25.0% 25000 21165 20.0% 20000 20.6% 18.3% 17.5% 17.48% 16.6% 15.0% 15000 14.6% 14.1% 13.62% 13.5% 13.2% 10.0% 10000 7061 5871 5.0% 5000 4537 4205 0.0% 0 "Jan 2020" "Feb 2020" "Mar 2020" "Apr 2020" "May 2020" % Nearly Every Day % More Than Half the Days Total Number, Half to Nearly Every Day

16 Young People in May Still Disproportionately Experiencing Depression and Anxiety Percent Moderate to Severe 100.00% 90.00% 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% "11-17" "18-24" "25-34" "35-44" "45-54" "55-64" "65+" Depression Anxiety

17 Psychosis Screening: Screeners at Risk and Severity Up in May 2020 17500 76.00% 75.00% 15500 74.00% 13500 73.00% 11500 72.00% 9500 71.00% 7500 70.00% 5500 69.00% 3500 68.00% Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar April May Screeners At Risk Percent at Risk

18 Special Populations: Positive for Depression and Anxiety Vet/Active Duty New/Exp Mom Caregiver LGBTQ Trauma Survivor Student Other Health Condition 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Depression Anxiety

19 For More Resources • For MHA COVID-19 resources: https://www.mhanational.org/covid19 • For other mental health COVID-19 resources: https://psychhub.com/covid-19/ • To take a free mental health screen: https://screening.mhanational.org

20 Contact Us Mental Health America 500 Montgomery Street Suite 820 Alexandria, VA 22314 Facebook.com/mentalhealthamerica Twitter.com/mentalhealtham Instagram.com/mentalhealthamerica Youtube.com/mentalhealthamerica pgionfriddo@mhanational.org @pgionfriddo