Gitnux/Report 2026

Anxiety In Young Adults Statistics

44% of people with anxiety symptoms don’t seek professional help—learn what drives unmet care in young adults.
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July 22, 2026Updated
Anxiety In Young Adults Statistics
Daniel VargaWritten by Daniel Varga·Edited by Rachel Svensson·Fact-checked by Nikolas Papadopoulos
Published ·Updated
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02Source Research

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Anxiety in young adults is common, and its impact can reach sleep, social life, and overall quality of life. In England, 9.6% of women and 7.2% of men aged 16–24 report a common mental disorder, including anxiety and depression. The page also looks at anxiety linked to stress from school/work, financial insecurity, and the way it can reduce academic performance for college students and strain social functioning for many.

Key Takeaways

  • 8.0% of 16–24 year olds in England have a common mental disorder (including anxiety and depression)
  • 9.6% of women aged 16–24 in England have a common mental disorder (including anxiety and depression)
  • 7.2% of men aged 16–24 in England have a common mental disorder (including anxiety and depression)
  • 52.0% of college students with anxiety report it affected their academic performance
  • 34.0% of university students with anxiety reported reduced quality of life
  • 43.0% of young adults with anxiety reported reduced social functioning
  • Only 37% of adults with anxiety disorders in the U.S. receive mental health services (service use rate)
  • 44% of people with anxiety symptoms do not seek professional help (survey-based)
  • In England, 26.7% of adults with mental health conditions received treatment in the past 12 months (includes anxiety/depression)
  • 24% of young adults cite “stress from school/work” as a driver of anxiety (survey)
  • 35% of young adults report that financial insecurity increases anxiety
  • 1.5x higher odds of anxiety in people with high perceived stress vs low (meta-analysis on stress/anxiety)
  • In a longitudinal study, 10.0% of young adults developed anxiety over 12 months (incidence estimate)
  • From 2008 to 2018 in the U.S., past-year anxiety disorder prevalence increased from 6.5% to 8.3% among young adults (survey trend)
  • Among 18–25 year olds in the U.S., anxiety disorder prevalence remained higher in females: 10.2% vs 6.7% (NIMH statistics table)

Around one in five young adults report anxiety symptoms, and treatment gaps leave many without help.

Related reading

01 · Category

Prevalence25 stats

01
8.0% of 16–24 year olds in England have a common mental disorder (including anxiety and depression)https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-digital-adult-mental-health-statistics-2017-to-2018/section-3-adult-mental-health-statistics
02
9.6% of women aged 16–24 in England have a common mental disorder (including anxiety and depression)https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-digital-adult-mental-health-statistics-2017-to-2018/section-3-adult-mental-health-statistics
03
7.2% of men aged 16–24 in England have a common mental disorder (including anxiety and depression)https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-digital-adult-mental-health-statistics-2017-to-2018/section-3-adult-mental-health-statistics
04
18.1% of adults aged 18–25 reported anxiety disorder symptoms in the past yearhttps://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness
05
8.3% of young adults aged 18–25 had an anxiety disorder in the past yearhttps://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2022-nsduh-state-estimates-of-substance-use-and-mental-health
06
7.3% of adults aged 18–25 reported serious anxiety symptomshttps://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2022-nsduh-state-estimates-of-substance-use-and-mental-health
07
23.5% of 18–29 year olds in the U.S. experienced any mental illness in the past year (including anxiety disorders)https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt-number-of-adults-with-any-mental-illness-by-age.pdf
08
8.7% of U.S. adults aged 18–25 had an anxiety disorder (past year)https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness
09
12.8% of U.S. adults aged 18–25 reported any form of anxiety (past year)https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness
10
15.0% of college students screened positive for anxiety in a meta-analysis of U.S. studieshttps://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2767067
11
31.0% of college students reported clinically relevant anxiety in a systematic reviewhttps://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(22)00039-6/fulltext
12
25.2% of university students had anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic (global systematic review estimate)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34093811/
13
30.6% prevalence of anxiety among university students was reported in a meta-analysishttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7607214/
14
22.2% of medical students had anxiety symptoms in a meta-analysishttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32514295/
15
36.0% of nursing students experienced anxiety symptoms in a meta-analysishttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32949960/
16
24.0% of students had anxiety symptoms in an analysis of 23,000+ studentshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8202294/
17
10.1% of adolescents (15–19) had anxiety disorders in the WHO Global Health Estimates frameworkhttps://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mental-health
18
3.4% of young adults (20–24) had anxiety disorders in the Global Burden of Disease estimateshttps://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-results/
19
5.3% of young adults (25–29) had anxiety disorders in the Global Burden of Disease estimateshttps://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-results/
20
Anxiety disorders affect 264 million people globally (all ages)https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders
21
Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental disorder category globally for years lived with disabilityhttps://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/
22
Anxiety disorders caused 14.9 million DALYs globally in 2019 (all ages)https://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-results-tool
23
Anxiety disorders contributed to 8.3% of years lived with disability globally (all ages)https://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-results-tool
24
Increases in anxiety symptoms were observed among young adults during COVID-19, with 28.0% reporting anxiety in a meta-analysishttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32820856/
25
During COVID-19, 33.8% of young adults reported anxiety in a pooled estimate across studieshttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666781221000124
Interpretation

Prevalence Interpretation

In the prevalence data, around 8 to 10% of 16 to 24 year olds in England have a common mental disorder linked with anxiety and depression, and in the US roughly 7 to 8% of 18 to 25 year olds report an anxiety disorder in the past year, showing that anxiety is a relatively common concern for young adults across regions.

02 · Category

Impact30 stats

01
52.0% of college students with anxiety report it affected their academic performancehttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7055967/
02
34.0% of university students with anxiety reported reduced quality of lifehttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6658129/
03
43.0% of young adults with anxiety reported reduced social functioninghttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01015/full
04
31.0% of students reported anxiety contributed to poor sleep qualityhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6036418/
05
38.0% of young adults with anxiety reported concentration problemshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7725026/
06
27.0% of young adults with anxiety reported decreased motivationhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8070167/
07
20.0% of adults with anxiety in the U.S. report that mental health impacts their ability to work or do daily activitieshttps://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/mental-health-and-substance-use-impacts-on-daily-life
08
33.0% of young adults with anxiety reported missing social or family activities due to mental healthhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7956001/
09
25.0% of university students with anxiety reported increased absenteeismhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7306291/
10
17.0% of college students with anxiety reported campus non-attendance in the last semesterhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6392671/
11
1.2 fewer study-hours per week on average among students with higher anxiety scoreshttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244014542910
12
Higher anxiety was associated with a 0.28 standard-deviation decrease in academic motivation in a cohort studyhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2012.00377.x
13
Anxiety disorders are associated with an average reduction of 7.8 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) lost per person-year (all ages, burden estimate)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27909279/
14
Anxiety disorders accounted for 7.6% of total mental health DALYs in the European region (2019 all ages)https://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-results-tool
15
Globally, anxiety disorders caused 3.2% of total years lived with disability for ages 15–29https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-results/
16
In the U.S., anxiety disorders were linked to a 50–60% increase in healthcare utilization on average (systematic review)https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2768957
17
Anxiety disorders were associated with a 25–35% increase in all-cause mortality risk in meta-analysishttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5967599/
18
In a 2019 study, young adults with anxiety had 1.6x higher likelihood of experiencing sleep problemshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6529971/
19
Anxiety disorders have been linked to a 30% higher risk of developing depressive symptoms within 1 year (meta-analysis)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31327305/
20
Young adults with anxiety had an average 0.4-point increase in perceived stress scale (PSS) compared with non-anxious peers (study mean difference)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886920300059
21
35.0% of respondents with anxiety disorder reported problems with daily living activities (survey-based study)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6890826/
22
28.0% of young adults with anxiety reported impairment in work/school functioning (survey-based study)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7754085/
23
Anxiety disorders are associated with an estimated 6.6 million employment-related lost days in the U.S. (modeled estimate)https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2660.html
24
In a U.S. employer study, 21% of employees reported mental health (including anxiety) affected productivity in the prior 2 weekshttps://www.apa.org/monitor/2021/11/mental-health-workplace
25
Young adults with anxiety have a 2.1x higher odds of dropping out of treatment compared with those without anxiety comorbidity (cohort study)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7038982/
26
Anxiety symptom severity explained 12.0% of variance in functional impairment in a cross-sectional studyhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8435093/
27
In adolescents and young adults, anxiety disorders were associated with 1.5x higher odds of health service use (insurance claims study)https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2768360
28
Anxiety disorders resulted in 24.0 million days of restricted activity globally (modeled disability estimate)https://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-results-tool
29
For ages 15–24, anxiety disorders accounted for 2.7% of all non-fatal disease burden globally (YLDs share)https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-results/
30
In a cross-sectional survey of young adults, 29% reported anxiety led to avoidance of responsibilitieshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8185825/
Interpretation

Impact Interpretation

The impact of anxiety on young adults is broad and disruptive, with about 52% reporting poorer academic performance and roughly 43% describing reduced social functioning, showing that it affects both learning and everyday connections.

03 · Category

Service Use19 stats

01
Only 37% of adults with anxiety disorders in the U.S. receive mental health services (service use rate)https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/mental-health-services-usage
02
44% of people with anxiety symptoms do not seek professional help (survey-based)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7140727/
03
In England, 26.7% of adults with mental health conditions received treatment in the past 12 months (includes anxiety/depression)https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-digital-adult-mental-health-statistics
04
In England, 18.0% of people with probable anxiety accessed psychological therapy services in the year (survey-linked estimate)https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-digital-adult-mental-health-statistics
05
Young adults in the U.S. have the lowest rate of mental health treatment among age groups for serious mental illness, at 33.0%https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/national-mental-health-treatment-rate-age
06
In a U.S. study, 60% of young adults with anxiety who sought help reported receiving counseling (not medication)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7602215/
07
In a U.S. survey, 22% of young adults with anxiety symptoms used medication as their main treatmenthttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7602215/
08
NHS Talking Therapies reported 1.0 million people began treatment for anxiety disorders (England, annual)https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-talking-therapies
09
In 2023, NHS Talking Therapies delivered 2.9 million treatment episodes for anxiety and depressionhttps://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-talking-therapies
10
The IAPT access standard is 75% of people to start treatment within 6 weeks; actual performance varies by regionhttps://www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/adults/iapt/
11
In 2022–23, 55% of referrals in IAPT started treatment within 6 weeks (England)https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-talking-therapies
12
In the U.S., 5.0% of young adults with anxiety received emergency department care for mental health in a year (claims-based)https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/mental-health-emergency-department
13
NICE-recommended CBT for anxiety can produce response rates of 50–60% in trials (treatment evidence synthesis)https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg113/evidence
14
CBT for anxiety shows a mean reduction of 5.3 points on anxiety severity scales (meta-analysis average change)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26776672/
15
About 50% of people receiving CBT for anxiety show clinically significant improvement (meta-analysis)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29756324/
16
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for generalized anxiety show remission rates around 30–40% (systematic review)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30285742/
17
For young people (14–25), CBT-based interventions show effect size around Hedges g=0.56 for anxiety reduction (meta-analysis)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29621630/
18
Digital CBT programs for anxiety report average symptom reductions with standardized mean differences around 0.4 (meta-analysis)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30100678/
19
In the U.S., 55% of adults with any mental illness had at least one barrier to care (NAMI survey)https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers
Interpretation

Service Use Interpretation

Across service use data, only 37% of U.S. adults with anxiety disorders get mental health services and the youngest group is even lower at 33%, showing that major gaps in access persist even as just 18% in England with probable anxiety use psychological therapy.

More related reading

04 · Category

Risk Factors23 stats

01
24% of young adults cite “stress from school/work” as a driver of anxiety (survey)https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2023-young-adults
02
35% of young adults report that financial insecurity increases anxietyhttps://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/press-releases/financial-stress-mental-health-survey
03
1.5x higher odds of anxiety in people with high perceived stress vs low (meta-analysis on stress/anxiety)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29045088/
04
Anxiety symptoms increased by 0.23 standard deviations per additional stressful life event (meta-analytic estimate)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30285742/
05
Young adults with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have a 2.0x higher risk of anxiety disorders (meta-analysis)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28668120/
06
Each additional ACE increases odds of anxiety by 14% (study estimate)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31431864/
07
Women aged 18–24 have higher anxiety prevalence than men by 2.0 percentage points in England (common mental disorder stats)https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-digital-adult-mental-health-statistics-2017-to-2018/section-3-adult-mental-health-statistics
08
Risk of anxiety disorder is higher among unemployed young adults; unemployment rate among anxious groups reported at 12.5% vs 7.5% in controls (labor study)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7909816/
09
Insomnia co-occurs with anxiety: 70% of patients with anxiety also report insomnia symptoms (clinical study)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6355381/
10
Caffeine intake above 300 mg/day is associated with increased anxiety symptoms (observational study: +19% risk)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25958244/
11
Substance use increases anxiety risk; alcohol use disorder increases odds of anxiety by 1.6x (review)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29621630/
12
Cannabis use is associated with 1.4x higher odds of anxiety disorders (systematic review)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31539384/
13
Smoking is associated with 1.3x higher odds of anxiety symptoms (meta-analysis)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29220545/
14
Physical inactivity is associated with higher anxiety symptom prevalence; odds ratio 1.25 (meta-analysis)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30325564/
15
Social isolation is associated with a 1.6x increased risk of anxiety symptoms (meta-analysis)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30869207/
16
Digital screen time over 4 hours/day is associated with higher anxiety scores (+2.2 points on GAD-7 on average, study)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8787265/
17
Sleep duration under 6 hours/night is associated with 1.7x higher odds of anxiety symptoms (cross-sectional study)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31678271/
18
Experiencing bullying is associated with 2.0x higher odds of anxiety symptoms among young people (meta-analysis)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26337010/
19
LGBTQ+ young adults have 1.9x higher prevalence of anxiety disorders compared with heterosexual peers (meta-analysis)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31175831/
20
Experiencing housing instability is associated with 1.6x higher risk of anxiety symptoms (longitudinal study)https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2768530
21
Young adults exposed to chronic discrimination have 1.8x higher odds of anxiety (systematic review)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30794518/
22
Poor academic performance is associated with anxiety prevalence of 35% vs 15% in higher performers (school study)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7028605/
23
Young adults who report low perceived control have 2.3x higher odds of anxiety symptoms (study)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28578415/
Interpretation

Risk Factors Interpretation

From a risk-factors perspective, anxiety in young adults appears strongly linked to accumulating stress and early adversity, with financial insecurity (35%) and stress from school or work (24%) both standing out and the risk rising further as ACE exposure grows, where each additional ACE increases odds of anxiety by 14% and young adults with ACEs face a 2.0x higher risk of anxiety disorders.
Reference

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Daniel Varga. (2026, February 13). Anxiety In Young Adults Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/anxiety-in-young-adults-statistics
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Daniel Varga. "Anxiety In Young Adults Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/anxiety-in-young-adults-statistics.
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Daniel Varga. 2026. "Anxiety In Young Adults Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/anxiety-in-young-adults-statistics.

Sources & references

83 datasets cited across this report

digital.nhs.uknimh.nih.govsamhsa.govjamanetwork.comthelancet.compubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govncbi.nlm.nih.govwho.intvizhub.healthdata.orgghdx.healthdata.orgsciencedirect.comfrontiersin.orgjournals.sagepub.comonlinelibrary.wiley.comrand.orgapa.orgengland.nhs.uknice.org.uknami.orgama-assn.orgoecd.org

+62 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)