Nearly 22% of adults got mental health treatment in 2021, up from about 19% in 2019.
This jump is probably due to a combination of increased need and better access to treatment, said Calliope Holingue, a psychiatric epidemiologist and member of Johns Hopkins University's COVID-19 Mental Health Measurement Working Group.
"The pandemic has spurred an important conversation about the need to take care of ourselves. In the population as a whole, we're seeing that reflected," she said.
Overall, the CDC report found that the increase in mental health treatment was driven largely by adults under the age of 45.