The coronavirus pandemic turned the lives of millions of Americans upside down. It also exacerbated the trend of more and more Americans dealing with mental illness symptoms, according to data from two government surveys.
The Census Bureau created the Household Pulse Survey to measure the well-being of Americans during the pandemic. Part of the survey focuses on adult mental health, using four questions adapted from the Patient Health Questionnaire and Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale.
The Patient Health Questionnaire asks about the frequency of hopelessness and loss of interest in activities. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder questions measure respondents’ nervousness and uncontrollable worrying. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reporting at least one of the symptoms from the Patient Health Questionnaire almost every day in the past week — or one symptom more than half the days and the other at least several days — is associated with major depressive disorder diagnoses. The same responses for the other question set are associated with generalized anxiety disorder diagnoses.
