Sixty-four percent of women ages 18 to 25 said they thought they needed mental health services at some point in the past two years, according to a survey published Dec. 20 by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The 2022 Women’s Health Survey asked 5,201 women and 1,241 men ages 18 to 64 about their medical care experiences. The survey was conducted from May 10 to June 7.
The percentage of adults in the U.S. who reported any symptoms of depression and anxiety increased from 11 percent to 40 percent from 2019 to 2020. Fifty percent of all women surveyed by the foundation said they felt they needed mental health treatment in the past two years, compared to 35 percent of men.
Here are more key findings from the survey:
- Thirty-five percent of women ages 50 to 64 reported they thought they needed mental health treatment in the past two years.
- Among the women who reported they thought they needed care, 60 percent said they tried to get an appointment. Ten percent of the women who tried to make an appointment said they were unable to do so.
- Women who reported they were unable to make an appointment most often attributed it to being unable to find a provider who was taking new patients and being unable to afford the cost of treatment.
- Sixty percent of women ages 18 to 64 had a telehealth visit in the past two years. Among those women, 17 percent said their most recent telehealth appointment was for mental health services.
- Twenty-three percent of women in rural areas and 17 percent of women in rural or suburban areas said their most recent telehealth visit was for mental health services.