US depression rates surge — women, young adults hit hardest

Depression rates have hit new peaks in the US, particularly among young adults and women, a new Gallup poll has found.

Some 5,000 adults were asked in February: “Has a doctor or nurse ever told you that you have depression?” and “Do you currently have or are you currently being treated for depression?”

Twenty-nine percent of respondents reported being diagnosed with depression at some point in their life — an increase of nearly 10 percentage points since 2015.

And 17.8% of respondents say they have depression or are being treated for it — an uptick of about seven points over the past eight years.

Gallup noted these rates are the highest recorded since it adopted this depression data-collecting method in 2015.

The survey found women (23.8%) and adults 18 to 29 (24.6%) have the highest rates of depression or treatment for depression now.

These two groups, along with adults 30 to 44, have the fastest-rising rates compared to 2017 estimates.

The percent change for the lifetime depression rates for women (10.5% from 2017 to 2023) is nearly double that of the percent change for men (5.7%) over the same period.

Furthermore, lifetime depression rates among black and Hispanic adults have now surpassed white respondents.

White respondents typically report marginally higher rates of lifetime and current depression.

Isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic is likely a large factor in these results, per Gallup.

While clinical depression among US adults had been slowly rising before the pandemic, Gallup explains that reports of depression diagnoses notably jumped as the virus spread.

“Social isolation, loneliness, fear of infection, psychological exhaustion (particularly among front-line responders such as healthcare workers), elevated substance abuse and disruptions in mental health services have all likely played a role,” Gallup wrote in its survey analysis.

“While experiences of significant daily loneliness have subsided in the past two years amid widespread vaccinations and a slow return to normalcy, elevated loneliness experiences during the pandemic likely played a substantive role in increasing the rates of the longer-term, chronic nature of depression.”

The analytics company added that 78% of health care workers in 2019 were women, with the pandemic exposing them to significant emotional and psychological risk.

Many women also quit or were let go from their jobs during the pandemic, turning their attention to providing child care and schooling for their kids.

Young adults and people of color also were more likely to lose their jobs during that time.

If you or someone you know is experiencing depression, contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988, or chatting with them online.