An in-depth analysis of online searches reveals Americans' top concerns about mental health.

For better or worse, the first thing most people do when they have a question about mental health is consult the Internet. This usually starts with a search on Google, which currently handles over 92% of US-based web queries. In our continuing effort to provide students with the latest trends in psychology education, we analyzed these searches to see which way the winds were blowing in the world of mental health. The results were too good to keep to ourselves; here’s what we found out.

Methodology: First we identified the 500 most popular mental health searches on Google, then we narrowed down the list by removing the queries with less than 1000 average monthly searches, which left 20 search terms. We then cross-referenced these terms with historical search volume going back to 2019 to see how Americans' concerns about mental health have trended over recent years. Resources and tools used in this study include: Google Trends, Google Keyword Tool, and the National Institute of Mental Health.

Here are the nation’s top mental health concerns.