Discrimination Raised the Risk of Depression for Latino and Asian Americans in the Early Days of COVID-19
Regularly experiencing discrimination increases the risk of depression and having suicidal thoughts, according to a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry. Health data and survey results from more than 60,000 people in the United States revealed an association between discrimination and depression, especially among Black, Latino, and Asian Americans, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.It’s well established that the drastic changes wrought by the pandemic, such as physical distancing and isolation, dealt a blow to our collective mental health. During this same time period, hate crimes and racist rhetoric against Asians spiked, and the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor inspired a mass social movement for racial justice. It was a time when the pandemic and the salience of racism converged.That convergence had a pronounced effect on…