Calls to the U.S.-funded Disaster Distress Helpline, which provides advice and emotional support, rose 335 percent from March through July.
Hannah Collins, a Lively Mental Wellbeing spokeswoman said the Helpline counselors recorded callers voicing feelings of loneliness and interpersonal issues about physical distance, such as being cut off from social support.
In early April, the BU study included a survey of 1,440 U.S. adults questioned on symptoms of depression. Symptoms were most prevalent among young adults, low-income participants, and those who reported multiple outbreak-related disorders like financial difficulties, work losses, or COVID-19 deaths of relatives. Nearly 1,000 participants had witnessed at least three of those challenges.
Results of the study echo Chinese research early in the epidemic, and studies were done during the Ebola and SARS crises and after major hurricanes and 9/11, said lead author Dr. Sandro Galea, a public health specialist from the BU.