Depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic, just like other infectious disease outbreaks, is associated with adverse psychological and mental outcomes including depression and anxiety. Prior investigations observed that the prevalence of depressive symptoms in the United States was almost 4 times more during the COVID-19 pandemic (27.8%) than before the pandemic (8.5%) while the prevalence of anxiety among US adults was three times higher during the pandemic (30.8%) than in 2019 (8.2%). Many countries have also experienced a similar prevalence of depressive symptoms and anxiety during the pandemic. Therefore, this study explored the level and impact of depression and anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and investigated the risk factors while highlighting adequate management and coping strategies needed to curb the global increase of depression and anxiety associated with the pandemic especially on a certain group of people with underlying health conditions, older adults and caregivers.