Since COVID-19, 21% of American adults live with a mental health disorder—how it varies by age
March 11, 2022 marked the second anniversary of the World Health Organization’s official declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19’s devastating impacts included the disruption of mental health services in 93% of countries worldwide, according to a WHO survey of 130 countries. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration data further show that more than one in every five American adults experienced mental illness in 2020.
Sidecar Health looked at how the prevalence of mental health disorders breaks down by age, citing SAMHSA data aggregating Q1 and Q4 survey data on mental health in 2020 and survey data specifically focused on the pandemic’s impacts on mental health.
Mental illnesses include different conditions with varying degrees of severity and can be broken down into two broad categories: any mental illness (AMI), encompassing all recognized mental illnesses; and serious mental illness, a more severe subset of AMI that interferes with or limits activities of daily living.
Stigma, prejudice, and discrimination against those experiencing mental illness have…
