Mental health services struggled to meet increased demand during pandemic, study finds

Anxiety, depression, and emergency department visits for drug overdoses and suicide attempts all rose during the pandemic — all while behavioral health services in the past year struggled to meet increased demand, according to a study released Friday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

The study analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found that 27% more adults in the U.S. reported symptoms of anxiety or depression during the pandemic, between April 2020 and February 2021, compared to in 2019. ER visits for drug overdoses increased by 36% and ER visits for suicide attempts rose by 26% in the past year compared to the same time period of the year earlier.  But more than half of behavioral health services reported that they had to cancel, reschedule patient appointments or turn people away from services during late 2020 and early 2021, according to a survey cited in the GAO report and conducted by the National Council for Behavioral Health, an advocacy association for mental health. Organizations reported program closures, shortened hours of operations, and employee layoffs, the survey found.