Frequent Mental Distress

Frequent mental distress is defined as experiencing stress, depression, or problems with emotions for at least 14 out of the past 30 days. Experiencing this level of distress can indicate clinical depression and anxiety disorders, serious health conditions that have a negative impact on quality of life. In King County from 2017-2021, 12.9% of adults experienced this degree of distress.   

• Income: The proportion of people with frequent mental distress decreased as income increased. People in households making less than $20,000 per year were 3 times more likely to experience frequent mental distress than those in households making $100,000 per year or more (27.2% and 8.6%, respectively).  

• Sexual orientation: At 29.6%, lesbian, gay, and bisexual residents were over twice as likely as King County adults overall to experience frequent mental distress.  

• Age: People ages 65 years and older (6.8%-7.9%) were less likely than adults ages 18-44 (13.6-23.2%) to experience frequent mental distress.   

• Gender: Women were more likely than men to experience frequent mental distress (15.1% and 10.8%, respectively). Transgender people (39.7%) were 3 times more likely than the King County average to experience frequent mental distress.  

• Race and ethnicity: Asians were less likely than King County residents overall to experience frequent mental distress, at 8.5%.    

• Trends: The percentage of people who have frequent mental distress increased from 10.0% in 2014-2016 to 13.4% in 2019-2021.   

To see data about mental health during the COVID-19 Pandemic, please see this dashboard and report.   

Measuring mental health:   

Because measuring mental health in the population in all its dimensions is challenging, researchers have developed different measures that use answers to questions on anonymous population surveys. Information on a related measure is given below:  

Poor mental health days: According to the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, “Frequent mental distress is a corollary measure to poor mental health days. It provides a slightly different picture that emphasizes those who are experiencing more chronic and likely severe mental health issues.” Information on poor mental health days in King County can be found here.