Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

May 28, 2020

Flattening the Mental Health Curve: COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Orders Are Associated with Alterations in Mental Health Search Behavior in the United States

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  • Jacobson et al. examine whether stay-at-home orders produced changes in mental health search queries on Google during March 16-23, 2020. They found that mental health search queries (including search terms measuring anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive, negative thoughts, irritability, fatigue, anhedonia, concentration, insomnia, and suicidal ideation) increased rapidly prior to the issuance of stay-at-home orders, and that these changes dissipated following the announcement and enactment of these orders. 

Jacobson et al. (May 14, 2020). Flattening the Mental Health Curve: COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Orders Are Associated with Alterations in Mental Health Search Behavior in the United States. JMIR Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.2196/19347