How often have you heard the idea that mental health in the population is getting worse? It’s true that the general diagnosis of mental health disorders has gone up over time. For instance, the APA notes how the percentage of young Americans experiencing certain mental conditions has gone up (1). However, the overall trend of mental health conditions and its rise in diagnoses is complicated by a variety of trends.

Mental Health: Factors Over Recent Years

Media and Online Coverage

One factor that could explain the rising rates in diagnoses is the fact that the media discusses it more. This can also be linked to the overall destigmatization of mental health in general. Online, there are various news outlets that discuss mental health topics, forums and threads dedicated to discussion of broader topics within mental health or even more specific conditions such as anxiety or depression. It’s no secret that mental health has become more talked about in recent years. One article affirms this claim, stating that there is evidence pointing to the fact that usage of mental health forms online has increased (2). More overall coverage of mental health has led to the topic to become more normalized as well as increased awareness regarding mental health topics.

The Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has also been a factor. Unsurprisingly, within the first year of the pandemic alone, “global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25%”. This lines up with the huge impact the disease had. After all, the disease has killed upwards of 7 million people since the year 2020 (3). Many lost family to the disease and paired with the lockdown in order to contain the spread, it overwhelmingly impacted people’s mental health negatively.

Disorders with Increased Rates of Diagnosis

Autism

Autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, is one such condition that has seen an increase in diagnoses. For instance, the CDC mentions that prevalence of the condition in children at the age of 8 in 2022 had been higher than in previous years (4). However, it’s important to note some things regarding this. One thing to mention is that awareness of it has gone up, most likely due to online discussions and more general information available online about the condition itself. Additionally, the diagnosis of autism itself has been broadened. Originally, autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder, as well as Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), were all considered separate conditions. However, the DSM-5 would combine these into the singular diagnosis that we now know of as autism spectrum disorder (5, 6). There has also been increased screening and diagnostic tools available, with one article published to the John Hopkins University site stating that “there have been many widely successful public health programs that increased screening at wellness visits for children ages 18–24 months to look for signs of autism” (7). Also worth noting here is the fact that there even exists online free quizzes that allow for someone to answer some questions and get a result at the end telling them how at risk they are of having autism. While they aren’t formal diagnosis tools, a person could use them to get an idea and then talk to a professional based on the results from multiple of these tests.

Depression & Anxiety

Two other disorders that have seen an increase in diagnosis are depression and anxiety. One source quantifies just how common the two disorders are with the fact that “284 million people suffer from anxiety disorders, and 264 million people suffer from depressive disorders worldwide” (8). As mentioned earlier, the pandemic has exacerbated these conditions. However, another thing that may have contributed to the rise in diagnosis of these conditions is due to stress in certain areas of one’s life. One easy thing to point out is academic stress, with one study finding that “academic performance and the pressure to succeed were the top concerns amongst the 374 undergraduates surveyed, suggesting academic pressure may be partially to blame for increased mental health issues amongst the students” (9). This especially makes sense with the fact that colleges have seen more and more applicants over the years as it’s become more important in society. Academic pressures are especially prevalent in high schoolers and college students. Of course, these two conditions are still impacted by the same factors that influenced an increased rate of autism diagnoses. Namely, this includes greater awareness and more information being available regarding anxiety and depression. When the symptoms are severe enough, people may be more inclined to get the help that they need to alleviate the symptoms (10).

Conclusion

It’s not a stretch to believe that diagnosis of certain mental health conditions has in fact increased with time. However, it’s important to consider how this trend is still impacted by various confounding variables. The most common factors have been the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the increase in coverage of mental health topics in online forums as well as media and news outlets, along with the general destigmatization of the topic of mental health and increased information about specific conditions. There is nothing wrong about continuing to talk about these conditions as there’s still much to be done in how these topics are approached in both the online setting as well as the clinical setting. It’s wrong to see these trends as an epidemic when in reality it is complicated by a multitude of other factors.

Sources:

Mental health issues increased significantly in young adults over last decade (1)

Understanding the Impacts of Online Mental Health Peer Support Forums: Realist Synthesis (2)

Coronavirus Death Toll and Trends - Worldometer (3)

Prevalence and Early Identification of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children Aged 4 and 8 Years — Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 16 Sites, United States, 2022 | MMWR (4)

Autism rates: Why are they rising? (5)

Autism Through the Years: How Understanding Has Evolved Over Two Decades (6)

Is There an Autism Epidemic? | Johns Hopkins | Bloomberg School of Public Health (7)

The prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among first-year and fifth-year medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study - PMC (8)

Contributing Factors to the Rise in Adolescent Anxiety and Associated Mental Health Disorders: A Narrative Review of Current Literature - PMC (9)

Determinants of help-seeking behavior in depression: a cross-sectional study - PMC (10)