MSMU RSWG 2023 final - Flipbook - Page 29
EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING
Across the state, as well as the nation, a greater percentage of women than men report issues with
emotional well-being. And, in recent years there has been a gradual increase in the percentage of both
women and men who report emotional or mental health issues.
The California Health Interview Survey has explored indicators of mental and emotional well-being
for multiple years through several questions on its annual survey. From answers to these questions,
statisticians predict how likely an individual is to have experienced a serious psychological episode in the
past 12 months.79
FIGURE 17
Source: California Health
Interview Survey
PERCENTAGE OF CALIFORNIA WOMEN AND MEN LIKELY TO HAVE EXPERIENCED
SERIOUS PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS
WOMEN
MEN
20%
15%
14%
11%
9%
11%
8%
8%
2015
2017
2019
2021
Prior to the pandemic, 15% of California women (11% of men) were likely to have experienced serious
psychological distress during the past 12 months; when the pandemic hit, that percentage rose to 20%
for California women (14% for men).
Across the state, nearly 1 in 5 women reports an actual medical diagnosis of depression.
FIGURE 18
CALIFORNIANS DIAGNOSED WITH DEPRESSION80
WOMEN
MEN
Source: Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention,
Behavioral Risk Factor
Surveillance Survey
19%
18%
12%
11%
2019
2021
However, in 2020, when asked if they had felt depressed or hopeless over the past week, more than
half of California women reported experiencing mild to severe depression. By fall 2022, these numbers
had not decreased significantly: 55% of women still reported some form of depression (mild to severe)
compared to 48% of men.81
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