Survey Says is a weekly series rounding up the most important polling trends or data points you need to know about, plus a vibe check on a trend that’s driving politics.

Have we entered a new age of American malaise?

New data from Gallup finds that just over 18% of American adults have or are being treated for depression, meaning that an estimated 48 million adults are depressed. Not only does that mark the third year in a row with a share around 18%, but also all three of those years are starkly higher than the average of 12.8% who reported being depressed between 2015 and 2020.

While those date ranges largely sort into pre- and post-pandemic timeframes, the potential causes are a lot messier the more you dig into the data.

The biggest increases in rates of depression were among adult

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