Health and Healthcare

The State Reporting the Most Anxiety During the Pandemic

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: February 22, 2022 9:30 am

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll on the emotional lives of Americans. The disease has infected at least 80 million people in the United States and has killed over 900,000. It has caused a horrible recession, albeit one that lasted a brief time. Millions of people have not returned to work. Hundreds of thousands have what is known as long COVID-19, which has symptoms that could last their lifetimes. And some people will never recover psychologically.

There is a wide variation in these effects. Some people develop cognition problems. Some people experience grief. Some marriages and families suffer. Some have the equivalent of post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Even though the latest and highly contagious Omicron variant is significantly less likely to cause death, especially among the vaccinated, people’s mental health is still being affected negatively by social isolation and related economic difficulties. Studies show that residents of some states have adjusted more successfully than others.

To identify the state reporting the most COVID-19-related anxiety or depression, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed Phase 3:3, covering the period from Dec. 1 to Dec. 13, from “Adults Reporting Symptoms of Anxiety or Depressive Disorder During COVID-19 Pandemic,” a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

A score of at least 3 on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-2) indicates an anxiety disorder, and a score of 3 or greater on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) scale defines a depressive disorder. (Each state’s population comes from the 2019 American Community Survey one-year estimates.)

Nationwide, more than a quarter of adult Americans reported symptoms of an anxiety disorder and just over one in five reported struggling with depression in the first half of December. Slightly less than a third of adults in the country said they were dealing with one or the other.

The state reporting the most anxiety during the pandemic is West Virginia. Here are the details:

• Adults reporting symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder: 39.9%
• Average daily COVID-19 deaths (past 7 days): 15.3 (17th lowest)
• Average daily COVID-19 cases (past 7 days): 4,632 (16th lowest)
• Population: 1,792,147

Click here to see all the states reporting the most anxiety during the pandemic.