Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: Real-time surveillance using google trends

Abstract

In the wake of COVID-19, the capacity to track emerging trends in mental health symptoms and needs will guide public health responses at multiple ecological levels. Using Google Trends to track populationlevel mental health-related Google searches in the United States, this investigation identified pandemicassociated spikes in searches related to anxiety symptoms and remote treatments for anxiety, such as deep breathing and body scan meditation. As other discernable population-level changes in mental health have yet to emerge, continued surveillance is warranted.