Young adults in California experience alarming rates of anxiety and depression, poll finds
LOS ANGELES — Young adults in California experience mental health challenges at alarming rates, with more than three-quarters reporting anxiety in the last year, more than half reporting depression, 31% experiencing suicidal thinking and 16% self-harm, according to the results of a survey commissioned by the California Endowment.
The numbers reflect a years-long trend of worsening mental health among young people that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, experts say.
The poll of nearly 800 Californians ages 18 to 24 also found young people facing significant barriers to getting help — with nearly half of those who wanted to speak to a mental health professional saying they had been unable to do so, and many saying cost or lack of access had stopped them.
The challenges reported by the poll are “extremely concerning,” said Dr. Benjamin Maxwell, interim director of child and adolescent psychiatry at Rady Children’s Hospital-San
