Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: Real-time surveillance using Google Trends.

Michael Hoerger Sarah Alonzi Laura M PerryHallie M VossSanjana EaswarJames I Gerhart

Published in: Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy (2020)

In the wake of COVID-19, the capacity to track emerging trends in mental health symptoms and needs will guide public health responses at multiple ecological levels. Using Google Trends to track population-level mental health-related Google searches in the United States, this investigation identified pandemic-associated spikes in searches related to anxiety symptoms and remote treatments for anxiety, such as deep breathing and body scan meditation. As other discernable population-level changes in mental health have yet to emerge, continued surveillance is warranted. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Keyphrases

mental health
public health
coronavirus disease
sleep quality
sars cov
mental illness
computed tomography
climate change
magnetic resonance imaging
global health
risk assessment
depressive symptoms
magnetic resonance
respiratory syndrome coronavirus
human health