Heavy snow and difficult travel expected again, heaviest snow in southern Minnesota

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

A question recently added to one of the Census Bureau’s on-going major national surveys shows that two in five American adults sometimes, rarely or never receive the social and emotional support they need. Moreover, one in five adults report symptoms of anxiety, depression or both. 

To wrap up Mental Health Awareness month, we took a look at data from 

the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest Household Pulse Survey.

 Our analysis suggests that mental health conditions remain much more prevalent today than they were prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example:  

Comparing the recent rates of anxiety and depression by state, Minnesota ranks as the 19th least anxious state and the 10th least depressed. And if you take the average of all the rates reported since the beginning of the survey in May 2020 through the most recent phase this spring, Minnesota is the least depressed and second-least anxious state.  

Minnesota also ranks well in terms of social and emotional support. Thirty-five percent of Minnesotans report sometimes, rarely or never receiving the social or emotional support they need, making the state’s population the fourth most supported in the nation. Still, that leaves over one-third of adults in the state lacking in the social and emotional support they need. 

The survey does not include enough Minnesotans to conduct a detailed analysis of the which groups are most commonly in need of mental health supports. Nationally, however, certain subpopulations — including many who have been marginalized historically — experience anxiety or depression at higher rates. These groups include young adults, LGBTQ+ Americans and those with a disability.  

Many in these same groups indicate that they lack needed social and emotional support, including over half of all adults with a disability, those identifying as transgender and bisexual as well as adults with a high school diploma or less education. 

Graph showing Young adult and LGBT Americans, and Americans with a disability report significantly higher rates of anxiety or depression

Relatively large proportions of some groups of Americans expressed a lack of social and emotional support even while they reported lower rates of anxiety or depression, including those between the ages of 30 and 60 and cisgender males.  

Looking at race and ethnicity, non-Hispanic Americans of other and multiple races have the highest rates of anxiety and depression compared to others.  

Hispanic or Latino Americans and Asian Americans report high rates of not receiving the social and emotional support they need and much lower rates of anxiety or depression, followed closely by Black Americans. 

In particular, 15 percent of Asian Americans report symptoms associated with anxiety or depression, the lowest rate across all racial and ethnic groups, while nearly half report a lack of social and emotional support 

The Minnesota Department of Health has an excellent page with various 

, including the number for a Minnesota Peer Support Connection Warmline. Call or text 844-739-6369 (5 p.m. to 9 a.m.) to talk to a peer. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Free, confidential support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

COVID-19 levels remain low but steady amidst continued rise of new FLiRT variants 

Overall COVID-19 activity remains low in the state, as measured by COVID-related hospitalizations, deaths and levels measured in wastewater.  

While low, COVID-19 hospital admissions are stubbornly stuck at about 70 per week in the state for the fifth consecutive week, so far not falling to the even lower hospitalization rates reported by the 

 last June and July. Similarly, the number of COVID-19 related deaths per week in Minnesota has hovered in the low double-digits since March.  

Graph showing number of COVID-19 related deaths and hospital admissions in Minnesota over time

The story told by a trendline of COVID-19 levels detected in samples taken from wastewater treatment plants throughout the state is slightly more complicated. Levels are up by 20 percent this week, following a much smaller three percent increase the week prior. As the longer trendline shows, however, levels remain well below what they were six months ago.  

Graph showing COVID-19 levels detected in wastewater in Minnesota

The relatively small upticks in COVID-19 as measured in wastewater might not be worth mentioning if it were not for the arrival of new COVID-19 variants. COVID continues to mutate, and 

 show that about one-quarter of sequenced COVID-19 cases were from the FLiRT lineage in early April, and 

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s more up-to-date estimates

 suggest that the previously dominant variant, JN.1, is now responsible for less than 10 percent of cases. 

Micheal Osterholm, Director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, reports

 that COVID is on the rise in “Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom … And in Singapore, notably, the rise has occurred at the same time that the FLiRT variants climbed in prevalence.”  

He notes, however, that COVID-19 activity remains fairly low even in those nations that have seen recent increases, and that so far the FLiRT variants have not resulted in a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations or deaths here in the United States. 

Health

NewsPartners

Homepage

COVID-19

Alyson Clary

Author

Craig Helmstetter

A new survey by the U.S. Census Bureau highlights the ongoing mental health crisis, revealing that anxiety and depression rates are still twice as high as before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alyson Clary | APM Research Lab

Twin Cities seniors picket Blue Cross and Blue Shield over cuts to SilverSneakers gym program

University of Minnesota researchers say hepatitis B vaccine safe for babies, despite federal concern

COVID-19 pandemic narrowed health care industry pay gap, new study finds

Minnesota’s paid leave law: What you need to know about the 2026 launch 

Anxiety and depression rates remain double pre-COVID levels 

Rates especially high among young adults, LGBTQ+ Americans and those with disabilities

Anxiety and depression rates remain double pre-COVID levels, with two in five Americans lacking needed social and emotional support. Young adults, LGBTQ+ Americans, and those with disabilities report especially high rates of mental health issues. 

Anxiety and depression rates remain double pre-COVID levels

Go Deeper.

Like this?

Quick Read