STUDY: ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION AMONG ADULTS HEIGHTENED DURING WINTER COVID-19 SURGE

Another study released Tuesday found that the frequency of anxiety and depression symptoms among American adults amplified during the winter COVID-19 surge, showing the pandemic’s effects on the country’s mental health.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research, spanning from August 2020 to June 2021, found anxiety and depression frequency peaked between December 2020 and January 2021, as COVID-19 cases skyrocketed to new heights during the holiday season.

By the numbers: On average, the frequency of anxiety symptoms climbed by 13 percent from August to December 2020 before dropping by 26.8 percent by June 2021. Similarly, the frequency of depression symptoms rose by 14.8 percent before falling by 24.8 percent in the same time periods.

The rise and fall in frequency of anxiety and depression symptoms “mirrored” the trends in the weekly count of new COVID-19 cases nationally, indicating the surges may have played a role.

Despite the drop, researchers found the frequency of anxiety and depression still remained “substantially” higher than compared to before the pandemic.

Caveat: The study does not include data from before August 2020 and from after June 2021, so it’s unclear how the anxiety and depression levels compared to when the pandemic first started and when the delta variant became the dominant strain in the U.S.