The rampant spread of the coronavirus has raised America’s baseline levels of anxiety and depression. | Getty Images

Survey data show the mental health strain of the pandemic.

Case numbers, positivity rates, deaths, and hospitalizations have become the go-to metrics for tracking the severity of the coronavirus pandemic. But one symptom of the pandemic, impacting both those who’ve had the virus and those who haven’t, has proven more difficult to quantify: deteriorating mental health. Perhaps because of this challenge, it has been largely absent from the messaging and response of public officials.

A close look at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey data shows that one measure of mental health is far more intimately tied to the state of the pandemic than previously imagined. In fact, their trajectories align almost exactly.

It is well documented that the coronavirus pandemic has