The latest results—released as the country enters the fourth month of a "new normal" governed by public health guidelines to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19—show that more than a quarter of U.S. residents (27 percent) "describe symptoms in a range that would be considered moderate or severe depression," according to the report.
The figure is more than three times higher than what has normally been observed in large national surveys. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, for example, finds that roughly 8 percent of U.S. residents reported moderate to severe depression between 2013 and 2016.
"Clearly, contemporary events are putting us all under a lot of stress, and we wanted to know if it was noticeable by the standards of our survey," says David Lazer, university distinguished professor of political science and computer and information sciences at Northeastern, and one of the researchers who conducted the study.
"And, boy, does it stick out," he says. "We're all stressed."
The researchers surveyed 18,132 U.S. residents in all 50 states and the District of Columbia between May 16 and May 31, and found stark differences in the reported mental health of people who said their lives have been disrupted "a great deal" by COVID-19 and the people who said their lives have been disrupted "a moderate amount" or less by the disease. Forty-two percent of people whose lives had been greatly disrupted reported moderate to severe depressive symptoms, while only 19 percent of those whose lives hadn't been disrupted as much reported such symptoms, according to the report.
