Contact: Lauren Slagter, lslag@umich.edu, Jared Wadley, jwadley@umich.edu
DETROIT — Mental health-related symptoms among Detroit residents have improved and remained largely stable since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a University of Michigan report.
The negative impact of the pandemic on people's mental health is well documented, but less is known about the continuation of mental health issues after lockdowns end and economies reopen.
The University of Michigan's Detroit Metropolitan Community Survey, with support from Poverty Solutions, surveyed Detroit residents about their mental health from April 2020 to December 2023. The representative survey results are weighted to reflect Detroit's population.
A new analysis of survey data finds that while a significant percentage of Detroiters still report experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety or general worry, the numbers have remained roughly stable in the post-pandemic period.
“Understanding how mental health changes during times of crisis and then stabilizes can help mental health professionals better meet the needs of their communities,” said Lauren Chojnacki, a DMACS researcher who authored the report, “Detroiters' Mental Health Has Improved Since the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
In April 2020, early in the pandemic, a majority of Detroit residents (62%) reported feeling anxious, 47% reported feeling depressed and 46% reported feeling “general worry.”
By June 2020, 44% of Detroiters said they were feeling anxious, and that percentage has remained relatively stable since then. Depression rates dropped to 35% by August 2023, but spiked to 41% in December 2023. General feelings of worry dropped to 37% of Detroiters in June 2020, and that percentage has remained relatively stable since then.
The declines in depression, anxiety and worry since the pandemic's peak applied to Black, white and Latino Detroiters, and women were generally more likely than men to report feeling unwell one or more days a week.
Detroit’s low-income residents (those with annual household incomes of less than $10,000) consistently report higher rates of anxiety, depression and general worry than residents with annual household incomes of more than $100,000.
Residents under the age of 30 generally experienced higher rates of depression, anxiety and worry than Detroiters over the age of 65, a trend that continued from April 2020 through December 2023, when the pandemic peaked.
Report: Detroiters' mental health has improved since COVID-19 pandemic
