Google searches for anxiety were the highest in the history of the search engine during the coronavirus pandemic this spring.
Searches for information about panic attacks and anxiety spiked following COVID-related major news events from mid-March to mid-May.
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That’s according to a study by authors from UC San Diego published in Monday’s Journal of the American Medical Association.
The authors suggest that for some Americans, fear about COVID-19 may have a greater effect on their health than the actual coronavirus.
Researchers hope this new data could help them design interventions that directly benefit people suffering from panic attacks.
It also indicates that in the future, the web can help researchers target where and when stress and anxiety is taking place.