Just a heads up, we do talk about suicidal thoughts in this episode about mental health.

Thanks.

You're listening to shortwave from NPR.

Since it began, one thing is certain. The pandemic has taken a toll on people's mental health.

And re2, you want to talk about a group that has been hit especially hard by this,

and that's caregivers.

Yeah, so we're talking about unpaid caregivers specifically, parents of little ones.

We've seen or read stories of how they've struggled during the pandemic.

And there's another group of caregivers we've perhaps heard a little less about those taking care

of adult loved ones, people like Amy Adams of Senegal, Illinois.

In December, my mom had a heart attack while I was out in Colorado on vacation.

She ended up having to have cardiac bypass surgery.

And over the next several months, Amy's mother battled one complication after another going

in and out of hospitals and nursing homes. And Amy, as her mother's primary advocate and caregiver,

develops severe anxiety.

Yeah, so caregivers like Amy, they're the subject of a recent CDC study.

Re2, what did that study find?

Yeah, so this recent report found that about 40% of US adults surveyed, identified themselves as

unpaid caregivers. So people taking care of kids younger than 18 and or adult loved ones.

And two thirds of that group said they were struggling with adverse mental health symptoms,

like anxiety, depression, PTSD in the month before the survey.

That's a big number. And it's much higher than those without caregiving roles.

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