Progress on depression in Texas has improved in recent years. Health organizations and human services contacts are working together with communities now. This is to improve the health and well-being of Texans. It also delivers mental health services to Texans. Nationally and in Texas, progress has been made to bring attention to the issue of depression. This especially affects low-income communities. Mental health programs have been established to help low-income individuals attain treatment, as well as provide affordable options (See What's Next? page). Despite growing options for treatment, several groups are still unfairly affected by access to these treatments. For example, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, in 2017-2018 adolescents aged 12-17 in Texas who reported a major depressive episode within the year surveyed roughly 64.7% did not receive mental health treatment (2020). These programs are established to help people identify signs, symptoms, and warning sings of suicide and depression to combat this. Although progress has occurred both nationally and in Texas, the rate of depression is still high.

Specifically with current times, COVID-19 has caused a spike in new cases of depression. For low-income populations, the stressors of daily life have become potentially unbearable. Lack of support from the government and an overburdened job market continue to make this worse. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, and alarmingly high 40.1% of adults aged 18+ in Texas reported symptoms of depressive disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic that occurs for the majority of days or in severe cases every day, up from just 16.5% in 2018 (2020). This has been recognized as an abnormally high incidence rate given the circumstances. This new high percentage of adults experiencing symptoms of depression is also alarmingly high compared to the national average, approximately 18.6% according to Understanding Houston (n.d.)

Pictured left is a map showing the occurrence of symptoms of depression between April 23rd, and May 5th, 2020 according to a survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control. Values are percentages of households per state, adjusted for non-response.