Recovering From Ruins: a special report on anxiety and depression amid wildfires and COVID

Amid the worldwide pandemic, Licensed Professional Counselor Lisa Jamison said depression and anxiety were already high but following the South Obenchain and Almeda fires on Sept. 8, suicidal ideation and self-harm have grown even higher.

“Depression and anxiety are through the roof,” Jamison said. “The anxiety around everything that is going on has just increased. It’s just such a hard time.”

Rates of depression in the U.S. have tripled since the onset of Covid-19, according to a fall Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network study – and this trend isn’t expected to subside anytime soon.

Locally the combination of the wildfires and the strain of the coronavirus pandemic has increased the need for mental health treatment.