In a new study, researchers found evidence of a record high in anxiety attacks or panic attacks through Google searches.
The research was conducted by a team at the University of California, San Diego and elsewhere.
Many health experts are concerned that the COVID-19 pandemic could be having widespread effects on people’s mental health, but assessing these concerns is difficult without data.
In the study, the research team analyzed Google search queries that mentioned “panic attack” or “anxiety attack” emerging from the United States from January 2004 through May 9, 2020.
These included queries like “am I having a panic attack?” “signs of anxiety attack” or “anxiety attack symptoms.”
The team studied anxiety attacks because they are a common mental health problem, can lead to other mental health problems like depression, are triggered by outside stressors, and (especially relevant during a pandemic) are socially contagious.
Evaluating trends after President Trump first declared a national emergency (March 13, 2020) to assess the impact of COVID-19 the team discovered severe acute anxiety-related searches reached record highs.
The largest increases in queries occurred between March 16, 2020 and April 14, 2020, cumulatively increasing 17%.
These increases coincided with the roll out of national social distancing guidelines (March 16th) and their extension (March 29th), the US surpassing China with the most reported cases (March 26th), the CDC recommending facemasks (April 3rd), and the US surpassing Italy for most deaths (April 11th).
Queries returned to typical levels by April 15, 2020 through the end of the study.
The team found over the first 58 days of the COVID-19 pandemic there were an estimated 3.4 million total searches related to severe acute anxiety in the United States.
In fact, searches for anxiety and panic attacks were the highest they’ve ever been in over 16 years of historical search data.
The team says the pandemic and the public health response, while warranted based on early evidence, could have many unintended and collateral health impacts.
A panic attack is not to be taken lightly as it can land someone in the emergency room with shortness of breath, a pounding heart, chest pain, and an intense feeling of fear.
As a result, the results unquestionably warrant a need for increased mental health services.
The team says as political and policy leaders debate where to spend health resources to address the mental health burdens of COVID-19, timely, empirical evidence like this can ensure that limited resources are allocated to the direst needs.
One author of the study is Dr. John W. Ayers who specializes in monitoring the health needs of the public.
The study is published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
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