(NewsNation) —Boys may have stopped interacting with the health care system during the pandemic, potentially leaving them with undetected and untreated mental health issues.
The number of young people with antidepressant prescriptions rose nearly 64% — mostly for females —after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Kao-Ping Chua led the study and is a pediatrician at the Susan B. Meister Child Health Evaluation and Research Center at the University of Michigan. In a recent interview with NBC, Chua said male adolescents stopped going to the doctor, skipped physicals and didn’t attend mental health treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In males, it’s theoretically possible that this reflects improved mental health, but I’m struggling with that explanation,” Chua told NBC. “Given that everybody’s mental health got worse, I would have expected that boys’ antidepressant dispensing would have at least remained stable, not decrease.”
The number of people between the ages of 12 and 25 who received at least one antidepressant prescription rose significantly between January 2016 and December 2022, the study found. The increase was mostly driven by the prescription rate for female patients, despite a declining rate of antidepressant prescriptions that were filled for male adolescents.
The prevalence of depression and anxiety among people of that age group was already rising before the March 2020 COVID-19 outbreak, according to the study.
Women are diagnosed with depression more often than men, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Men may be less likely to recognize, talk about, and seek help for their negative feelings, putting them at greater risk of going untreated.
Studies also show higher rates of depression among members of the LGBTQ community.