The burgeoning crisis in mental health is often thought of as an affliction reserved for young Americans who are troubled by increasingly uncertain futures.
But intriguing new figures suggest this is far from the case.
According to a new analysis by healthcare data firm FAIR Health, diagnoses of mental health conditions like anxiety and depression have soared in older Americans, reaching a prevalence higher than ever before.
In fact, the data show that the biggest leap in mental illness between 2019 and 2023 was among those aged over 65.
About 14 percent of adults over age 65 were diagnosed with some form of mental illness in 2023, compared to nine percent in 2019. This marks a 57 percent increase.
Meanwhile, adults ages 23 to 40 saw a 44 percent increase, and children under 10 experienced a 30 percent jump.
A study by researchers at FAIR Health evaluated the increases in mental illness diagnoses for different age groups from 2019 to 2023. Every age group saw an increase
The biggest jump was in Americans over age 65, which the experts said could be due to increased awareness and expanded access to telehealth during the pandemic
Overall, the amount of people being diagnosed with mental health conditions increased by 40 percent in this period, the data from 46 billion insurance claims showed.
Generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder were the most common diagnoses, but perhaps most intriguingly, the rate of ADHD diagnoses skyrocketed by 70 percent.
This appears to be a larger rise compared to other, younger age groups, according to previous research.
A study published in JAMA found a 43 percent increase in ADHD diagnoses in adults and a 13 percent jump in children over 10 years.
The latest findings have puzzled experts, who have long believed boomers are somewhat shielded from mental health problems due to their infrequent use of social media, on average, which is said to be driving the younger generation’s psychiatric decline.
However, experts have offered some possible theories to explain the shock rise.
Mostly, they have noted it could be increased due to greater access to telehealth and therapists during the pandemic and diagnoses like ADHD being missed in childhood.
The smallest jump in mental illness was seen in children ages 10 to 13, with diagnoses slightly increasing from 18.1 percent to 19 percent.
Robin Gelburd, FAIR Health’s president, said: ‘We hope these findings will also be starting points for further research on mental health conditions.’
FAIR Health’s report found that overall, the amount of patients being diagnosed with mental illnesses increased to 13.5 percent in 2019, to 18.9 percent in 2023, an increase of 39.8 percent.
In nearly every age group, women were more likely than men to have mental health issues. Though there were increases in both genders, women saw a 44.6 percent surge, while men had a 32.7 percent jump.
The most common diagnoses were generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and ADHD.
A recent CDC report found that nearly one in five Americans – 18.4 percent – reported being diagnosed with depression. This is over 46 million adults.
Additionally, the NIH estimates that 31 percent of US adults – almost 80 million – experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their life.
Meanwhile, federal data suggests that one in seven boys under age 17 in the US have been diagnosed with ADHD, and over 8.7 million American adults have the condition.
The researchers noted that the study’s main limitation was only including data from patients with private insurance and only one form of Medicare, Medicare Advantage. The report was also not peer reviewed.
The following chart shows an increase in insurance claims for mental health diagnoses from 2019 to 2023
A TikTok user named Janice posted about her 79-year-old mother receiving an ADHD diagnosis for the first time. ‘She couldn’t believe the difference the meds were making for her,’ she said
Several older adults have reported being diagnosed with mental health conditions now versus when they were younger because they did not know what they were.
A TikTok user named Janine, for example, posted a video in July talking about her mother’s recent ADHD diagnosis.
‘A couple of weeks ago, my mother, who is 79 years old, got diagosed with ADHD for the first time, and I kind of brought it to her attention because both my kids got diagnosed, and then I got diagnosed,’ she said.
Her experience made her realize that her mother may exhibit signs. Soon after starting medication, her mother noticed improvements.
‘She had to call me yesterday just to tell me that she did things,’ Janine said. ‘That she got up, she moved around, she wasn’t tired, she was feeling active, and that she couldn’t believe the difference the meds were making for her.’
