A panel of influential health experts has stated that all adults under 65 years of age should be screened for anxiety disorders. This is the first time such a recommendation has been passed, keeping in mind the ongoing worldwide mental health crisis, which has only exacerbated since the Covid pandemic.
The US Preventive Services Task Force has developed specific draft recommendations – via surveys and other screening tools – aimed at assisting healthcare providers to spot early signs of depression and anxiety. The advisory group said that the recommendations are intended to ensure that mental health issues don’t go undetected – and, consequently, untreated – for years and decades.
Clinical psychologist and member of the task force Lori Pbert claims that the timing of these recommendations couldn’t have been better, as a strong focus on mental health is the need of the hour. A plethora of stressors, from inflation and crime rates to the loss of loved ones due to Covid-19, has caused anxiety levels in Americans to skyrocket over the past few years. Dr. Pbert referred to these problems as a “crisis in this country” and expressed hope that the recommendations would make it clearer why there is such an urgent need for improved access to mental health services.
The guidance draft had been in the works since before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. After considering feedback from the public, the panel intends to make it final in the upcoming months.
According to one study referenced by the task force, the rate of adults suffering from anxiety symptoms jumped from 36.4% to 41.5% from mid-2020 to early 2021. Nearly 25% of men and 40% of women in the country go through an anxiety issue at some stage. These are just a few of the many alarming statistics that point to the importance of a laser-sharp focus on mental health in America.
Responding to the recommendations, mental health professionals stressed that screening programs are only valuable if they assist patients in finding practical solutions to their problems. Dr. Jeffrey Staab, a renowned psychiatrist, said that unless you provide workable solutions to the issues they face, it doesn’t matter if you screen thousands of patients.
While psychiatric professionals expressed their satisfaction that mental health is now receiving the attention it rightfully deserves, they noted that standardized screening is only the first step toward a diagnosis. This means that if a patient shows a positive screening result, providers should not automatically assume that it indicates a clinical disorder; for many patients, it could simply be a temporary period of stress and a need for additional care and support.
Dr. Staab stated, “When providers say, ‘You must have a disorder, here, take this,’ we could face an over prescribing problem. But the opposite scenario is that we have lots of people suffering who shouldn’t be. Both outcomes are possible.”
An increase in mental health issues is not only the case in the case the United States. The World Health Organization reports that during the first year of the pandemic, worldwide rates of anxiety and depression alarmingly increased by 25%, and have shown only minor improvement since.
