SEATTLE — Even in a normal year, a lot of people feel down around this time. And for those of us who live in the Seattle area, the unrelenting gray skies that are typical don’t help matters.
Of course, 2021 wasn’t been a normal year. The pandemic is still raging, fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Whatever the reasons, Seattle ranks as the most medicated major metro area for mental health conditions, according to a new survey from the U.S. Census Bureau. It shows that more than 1 in 5 adults in the Seattle area have taken prescription medication to help with emotions, or with concentration, behavior or mental health, in the past four weeks. The survey was conducted from Dec. 1-13.
The survey includes data for the 15 largest metro areas in the U.S. — Seattle just makes the cut at No. 15. Among these major metros, Seattle had the highest percentage of adults taking medications for their mental health, at 21 percent (or about 660,000 Seattle-area adults).
At the other end of the spectrum, only about 11 percent of adults in the Riverside-San Bernardino area in California were taking medications to treat mental health conditions.
This data comes from the Household Pulse Survey, an experimental product of the U.S. Census Bureau. Unlike other census products, which have a long lag time, the Household Pulse Survey provides near real-time data.
These statistics are intended to help inform officials and policymakers about the impacts of the pandemic on communities across the country. Because the pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health of many Americans, the survey includes a number of questions related to the topic.
Three metro areas have consistently ranked near the top for the percentage of adults taking prescription medications for mental health conditions: Seattle, Boston and Philadelphia.
Why these three? It may seem like a bit of head-scratcher at first glance, but it’s very likely related in part to racial demographics.
The survey data shows white people are significantly more likely to use medications for mental health conditions than any of the other major racial/ethnic groups. Asian people are the least likely to use them. (This is true nationally, and in the Seattle area.)
In most of the major U.S. metros, white people are less than half of the total population. But in Seattle, Boston and Philadelphia, white people make up more than 60 percent of the total. That is most likely one factor in why these three areas have a higher use of these medications.
