29% of U.S. adults have been diagnosed with depression at some point throughout their life.
QUICK FACTS:
- Gallup released a new poll revealing that 29% of U.S. adults have been diagnosed with depression at some point throughout their life.
- The number is a slight increase from the 2022 finding of 26.9%.
- 17.8% of Americans reported they either currently have or are being treated for depression.
- Those who have reported being diagnosed with depression at some point include 36.7% of women and 20.4% of men, many of which are under the age of 44.
- Both men and women aged 18 to 29 (24.6%) have the greatest rates of depression or treatment for depression.
- 23.8% of women also reported the highest rates of depression or treatment for depression.
- While White adults usually have slightly higher rates of lifetime depression, Black and Hispanic adults with lifetime depression have surpassed White adults.
FROM THE POLL:
- The Gallup poll suggests the COVID-19 pandemic greatly contributed to the increase in depression.
- “Young adults, in turn, are more likely to be single and to report loneliness, particularly so during the pandemic. They also need more social time to boost their mood than older adults, something directly impacted by COVID-19,” reads the poll’s implications.
- “Daily experiences of sadness, worry and anger — all of which are closely related to depression — are highest for those under 30 and those with lower income levels,” the Gallup poll adds. “And, like women, young adults and people of color were disproportionately likely to lose their jobs altogether due to the pandemic.”
- 78% of healthcare workers during the pandemic were women, according to the poll, likely “exposing them to enhanced emotional and psychological risk associated with the pandemic.”
BACKGROUND:
- In another Gallup poll, only 75% of Americans reported having decent mental health.
- 44% of Americans rated their mental health as “good” and 31% of Americans reported having “excellent” mental health.
- 23% of American adults reported visiting a mental health professional in the past 12 months, a significant increase from the 13% reported in 2004 and the 10% reported in 2001.
