Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: Real-time surveillance using Google Trends

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 population-level mental health-related Google searches in the United States, this investigation identified pandemic-associated 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 (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)