Mental health is critical to the US economy as it recovers from the effects of the pandemic, according to Sage Therapeutics CEO Jeff Jonas.
“We know factually now that the rates of depression, rates of anxiety and diagnoses are up two to three times and it’s my hope that this is an important opportunity to reflect on how important mental health really is,” Jonas told CNBC’s Jim Cramer Thursday.
Sage Therapeutics manufactures novel medicines to address physical and mental challenges.
“We need to treat mental health like physical illness, treat it urgently, in order to get people back to work and back to their families," the CEO said.
As Americans suffer from the health, economic, and racial issues, a study held by Boston University researchers, published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open, showed that half of the adults manifested some signs of depression. The number is twice as high from another study held two years ago.
Depression for some people is rooted in losing loved ones as well as the financial problems and social isolation caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. According to experts, Americans feel anxious over the racial and political issues of the past few months, though the BU study was held before the recent crisis.
“There is no question that many people in the U.S. and worldwide are experiencing real and often distressing emotional reactions to the Covid-19 pandemic and, in some cases, to contracting the virus,” said psychiatrist Dr. Ronald Pies, a retired professor at SUNY Upstate Medical University.
“For us to get back to work, for the world to recover ... we need vaccines, we need treatments, but people have to be able to function,” Jonas said. “National mental health should be an everyday priority.”
Google searches
A study released in August shows that Google searches for anxiety info soared in the US during the early phase of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to researchers from the Qualcomm Institute at the University of California San Diego, Google searches for anxiety surged in March, when the coronavirus pandemic was first declared a national emergency.
Based on the study published in JAMA Network Open, the top keywords are “anxiety” or “panic” in combination with “attack,” such as “panic attack,” “signs of anxiety attack,” “anxiety attack symptoms,” and so forth.
Researchers who collaborated with Johns Hopkins University, Barnard College and the Institute for Disease Modeling, anxiety-related searches were around 11% higher than usual over the 58 days after President Donald Trump announced a national emergency on March 13.
Economic recovery
A full US economic recovery will not happen until there is a coronavirus vaccine, according to the chairman of Federal Reserve.
Jerome Powell, head of the central banking system of the US, believes that the economy of the US will slowly recover from the current downturn. However, the country needs a coronavirus vaccine before a full recovery.
“In the long run and even in the medium run, you wouldn’t want to bet against the American economy. The American economy will recover,” Powell said on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
However, Powell noted that “for the economy to fully recover … that may have to await the arrival of a vaccine.”
