{
  "title": "Women’s Mental Health Statistics",
  "url": "https://www.growyourmeadow.com/data/womens-mental-health-statistics",
  "description": "Women are 1.4× as likely as men to have anxiety symptoms, and 1.8× as likely to have severe ones. The gap widens with severity. US federal survey data.",
  "publisher": "Wildcard Wellness",
  "publishedAt": "2026-09-10",
  "updatedAt": "2026-09-10",
  "nextUpdate": "When NCHS publishes newer NHIS symptom estimates or a newer NHANES depression brief",
  "licence": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
    "note": "Free to reuse with attribution to Meadow and a link to the report."
  },
  "stats": [
    {
      "id": "anxiety-gap",
      "url": "https://www.growyourmeadow.com/data/womens-mental-health-statistics#anxiety-gap",
      "value": "21.4% vs 14.8%",
      "label": "anxiety symptoms, women against men",
      "claim": "21.4% of American women had symptoms of anxiety in the past two weeks in 2022, against 14.8% of men, a gap of 6.6 percentage points.",
      "method": null,
      "sources": [
        "nhsr-213"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "severity-widens",
      "url": "https://www.growyourmeadow.com/data/womens-mental-health-statistics#severity-widens",
      "value": "1.8×",
      "label": "as likely as men to have severe anxiety, for women",
      "claim": "The anxiety gap widens with severity: American women were about 1.4 times as likely as men to report any anxiety symptoms in 2022, but 1.8 times as likely to report severe symptoms: 3.6% against 2.0%.",
      "method": "Each ratio is the women’s percentage divided by the men’s, at that severity level: any 21.4 ÷ 14.8, severe 3.6 ÷ 2.0. Severity is graded by the GAD-7 scale.",
      "sources": [
        "nhsr-213"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "depression-gap",
      "url": "https://www.growyourmeadow.com/data/womens-mental-health-statistics#depression-gap",
      "value": "24.5% vs 18.0%",
      "label": "depression symptoms, women against men",
      "claim": "24.5% of American women had symptoms of depression in the past two weeks in 2022, against 18.0% of men, with severe symptoms at 3.6% against 2.1%.",
      "method": "Graded by the PHQ-8 scale. As with anxiety, the ratio widens from about 1.4 at any symptoms to about 1.7 at severe.",
      "sources": [
        "nhsr-213"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "clinical-depression",
      "url": "https://www.growyourmeadow.com/data/womens-mental-health-statistics#clinical-depression",
      "value": "16.0% vs 10.1%",
      "label": "measured depression, females against males",
      "claim": "Depression affected 16.0% of American females and 10.1% of males aged 12 and over during August 2021 to August 2023, on a clinical measure. Females were about 1.6 times as likely as males.",
      "method": "From NHANES, a physical-examination survey using a clinical depression measure, and a different instrument from the NHIS symptom screen above. The two are not interchangeable and should not be compared directly.",
      "sources": [
        "nchs-db527"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "no-treatment",
      "url": "https://www.growyourmeadow.com/data/womens-mental-health-statistics#no-treatment",
      "value": "57%",
      "label": "of women with depression got no counselling in a year",
      "claim": "57% of American females with depression received no counselling or therapy from a mental health professional in the previous 12 months, during August 2021 to August 2023. They were still likelier to receive it than males, at 43.0% against 33.2%.",
      "method": "The complement of the 43.0% of females with depression who reported receiving counselling or therapy (100 − 43.0).",
      "sources": [
        "nchs-db527"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "rising",
      "url": "https://www.growyourmeadow.com/data/womens-mental-health-statistics#rising",
      "value": "15.6% → 18.2%",
      "label": "of US adults had anxiety symptoms, in 2019 then 2022",
      "claim": "Anxiety symptoms among American adults rose from 15.6% in 2019 to 18.2% in 2022, and depression symptoms from 18.5% to 21.4%. Both increases were statistically significant and were seen in men and in women.",
      "method": null,
      "sources": [
        "nhsr-213"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "youngest-worst",
      "url": "https://www.growyourmeadow.com/data/womens-mental-health-statistics#youngest-worst",
      "value": "19.2%",
      "label": "of 12–19-year-olds had depression, the highest of any age group",
      "claim": "Depression was most common in the youngest group measured: 19.2% of Americans aged 12–19 and 16.6% of those aged 20–39, falling to 8.7% at 60 and over, during August 2021 to August 2023.",
      "method": null,
      "sources": [
        "nchs-db527"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "significance",
      "url": "https://www.growyourmeadow.com/data/womens-mental-health-statistics#significance",
      "value": "12×",
      "label": "the standard error of the anxiety gap between women and men",
      "claim": "The 6.6-point anxiety gap between American women and men in 2022 is about 12 times the standard error of that difference, and NCHS reports it as statistically significant.",
      "method": "NHSR 213 publishes standard errors: 0.41 for women and 0.39 for men on any anxiety symptoms. The standard error of the difference is the square root of the sum of their squares, about 0.57, and 6.6 ÷ 0.57 is about 12. Included because most reporting of this gap gives no way to judge whether it is real.",
      "sources": [
        "nhsr-213"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "tables": [
    {
      "id": "severity-by-sex",
      "title": "Anxiety and depression symptoms by severity and sex, US adults, 2022 (%)",
      "columns": [
        "Measure",
        "Men",
        "Women",
        "Difference (women − men)"
      ],
      "rows": [
        [
          "Any anxiety symptoms",
          14.8,
          21.4,
          6.6
        ],
        [
          "— Mild anxiety",
          9.7,
          13.1,
          3.4
        ],
        [
          "— Moderate anxiety",
          3.1,
          4.7,
          1.6
        ],
        [
          "— Severe anxiety",
          2,
          3.6,
          1.6
        ],
        [
          "Any depression symptoms",
          18,
          24.5,
          6.5
        ],
        [
          "— Mild depression",
          12.2,
          15.5,
          3.3
        ],
        [
          "— Moderate depression",
          3.7,
          5.4,
          1.7
        ],
        [
          "— Severe depression",
          2.1,
          3.6,
          1.5
        ]
      ],
      "note": "Anxiety severity is graded by GAD-7 and depression by PHQ-8. The percentage-point gaps look largest at mild symptoms, but as a ratio the gap is widest at severe: women are about 1.4× as likely to have any anxiety symptoms and 1.8× as likely to have severe ones.",
      "sources": [
        "nhsr-213"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "depression-by-age",
      "title": "Measured depression by age, United States, August 2021–August 2023 (%)",
      "columns": [
        "Age group",
        "Depression"
      ],
      "rows": [
        [
          "12–19",
          19.2
        ],
        [
          "20–39",
          16.6
        ],
        [
          "40–59",
          10.8
        ],
        [
          "60 and older",
          8.7
        ]
      ],
      "note": "NHANES clinical measure, both sexes combined. Prevalence falls steadily with age.",
      "sources": [
        "nchs-db527"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "nhsr-213",
      "title": "National Health Statistics Reports No. 213: Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression Among Adults: United States, 2019 and 2022",
      "publisher": "US National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey",
      "url": "https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr213.pdf",
      "covers": "2019 and 2022 NHIS data, US adults aged 18 and over",
      "published": "2024-11-07",
      "retrieved": "2026-09-10"
    },
    {
      "id": "nchs-db527",
      "title": "NCHS Data Brief No. 527: Depression Prevalence in Adolescents and Adults: United States, August 2021–August 2023",
      "publisher": "US National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey",
      "url": "https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db527.htm",
      "covers": "August 2021 – August 2023 NHANES data, ages 12 and over",
      "published": "2025-04-01",
      "retrieved": "2026-09-10"
    }
  ],
  "methodology": [
    "Symptom figures come from National Health Statistics Reports No. 213, based on the 2022 National Health Interview Survey. Anxiety is graded by the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) and depression by the eight-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8), each summarised into none or minimal, mild, moderate and severe.",
    "Clinical depression figures come from NCHS Data Brief 527, based on NHANES, a survey that includes a physical examination, for August 2021 to August 2023, covering ages 12 and over.",
    "These are two different instruments measuring two related but distinct things, over different periods and age ranges. They are reported separately here and never combined into a single figure.",
    "NHSR 213 publishes standard errors, so the significance note on the anxiety gap is computed from the published values rather than asserted: the standard error of a difference between two independent estimates is the square root of the sum of their squared standard errors.",
    "Ratios and percentage-point gaps are derived from published percentages, with the arithmetic stated on each stat."
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Symptom screens are not diagnoses. GAD-7 and PHQ-8 measure how someone answered a set of questions about the past two weeks; they identify people likely to benefit from assessment, not people with a diagnosed disorder.",
    "The NHIS and NHANES depression figures are not comparable. Different instruments, different thresholds, different age ranges and different years. 24.5% and 16.0% are not two estimates of one quantity.",
    "Self-reported symptom data is shaped by willingness to report. Men are generally less likely than women to report emotional symptoms in health surveys, which may account for some part of the gap. How much is unknown, and this data cannot settle it.",
    "None of this identifies a cause. The figures describe a difference in reported symptoms between women and men; they say nothing about why it exists, and biological, social and reporting explanations are all consistent with them.",
    "The 2019-to-2022 change spans the pandemic, so it should not be read as a smooth secular trend.",
    "These surveys record sex as male and female only, and offer no data on nonbinary or transgender respondents.",
    "NHANES was suspended during part of the pandemic, so the August 2021 – August 2023 cycle is not a conventional two-year cycle."
  ],
  "updates": [
    {
      "date": "2026-09-10",
      "note": "First published, on NHSR 213 (NHIS 2019 and 2022) and NCHS Data Brief 527 (NHANES 2021–2023)."
    }
  ]
}