A surprisingly high number of individuals that are being contacted to pay for unpaid medical debts are suffering from depression and anxiety, which might be making their situations worse because they aren’t able to get proper medical care, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health revealed in a study that was published in JAMA Psychiatry.
The big picture: Medical debt is significantly more prevalent among adults with depression or anxiety compared to those without these conditions.
- 27.3% of adults with current depression reported having medical debt
- 26.2% of adults with current anxiety reported having medical debt
- Only 9.4% of adults without current depression and 9.6% without current anxiety reported medical debt
By the numbers:
- 36.9% of adults with current depression and medical debt delayed mental health care
- 38% of adults with current depression and medical debt did not seek care at all
- 38.4% of adults with current anxiety and medical debt delayed seeking mental health care
- 40.8% of adults with current anxiety and medical debt did not seek care at all
Why this matters: Researchers noted that issues with finances are risk factors for both depression and anxiety, possibly creating a cyclical relationship where medical debts negatively impacts individuals’ mental health, which then leads to more medical debt.
What they said: “The prevalence of medical debt in the U.S. is already quite high, and the prevalence was significantly higher among adults with depression and anxiety,” said lead researcher Kyle Moon in a statement. “On the flip side, a relatively high number of adults with no medical debt also report delaying or forgoing mental health care, and medical debt appears to compound the problem.”
