Discrimination Dramatically Increases Risk for Depression, Anxiety

Disrespected by a neighbor or colleague? Eyerolls from servers at a restaurant or store? Denied a job or a mortgage due to skin color?

More than half of Americans have experienced some such form of discrimination, and this mistreatment dramatically increases their risk of depression or anxiety, a new study says.

Nearly 56 percent of Americans have encountered discrimination in their lives, and almost 4 percent said they’d experienced high levels of discrimination, according to findings published March 28 in JAMA Network Open.

Those exposed to high levels of discrimination are five times more likely to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety, and nearly nine times more likely to screen positive for both mood disorders, results show.

“Everyday discrimination is a widespread issue that negatively impacts mental health across all racial and ethnic groups,” lead researcher Monica Wang, an associate professor of community health services at Boston University School of Public Health, said in a news release.

For the study, researchers analyzed 2023 federal survey data to gauge experiences of discrimination, depression and anxiety among nearly 30,000 U.S. adults.

Discrimination was scored based on answers to questions like:

• “How often are you treated with less courtesy or respect than others?”
• “How often do you receive poorer service at restaurants or stores compared to others?”
• “How often do people act as if they think you are not smart?”
• “How often do people act as if they are afraid of you?”
• “How often are you threatened or harassed?”

The score also factored in on how often people encountered such forms of discrimination.

Survey results show that Black Americans were most likely to experience frequent discrimination, with nearly 9 percent describing regular encounters with mistreatment.

Comparatively, about 6 percent of multiracial people said they’d experienced high levels of discrimination, followed by Hispanic people (3%), white people (3%), and Asian people (2%), the study says.

Discrimination also was more common among women, immigrants and people with disabilities or obesity, researchers said.

Analysis found that for every one-unit increase in a person’s discrimination score, risk of depression rose 15 percent and anxiety 14 percent. The risk of developing both mood disorders rose 19 percent.

Exposure to even low levels of discrimination doubled people’s risk of depression or anxiety, and higher levels brought even greater risk, researchers report.

“Our results are a powerful reminder that discrimination is everyone’s issue — and addressing it benefits society as a whole,” Wang said.

Every group in America faces its own combination of factors that might drive discrimination-related depression or anxiety, researchers said.

Black people continue to face structural racism and discrimination dating back to the birth of the nation, while multiracial people struggle with problems of identity, researchers said. White people are mistreated based on lower income or education, while Asian people face language barriers and pressure to be a “model minority” that’s high-achieving and successful.

“Studies have shown that discrimination shapes mental health most deeply when left unacknowledged,” senior researcher Marie-Rachelle Narcisse, an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University, said in a news release. “I hope this study creates more awareness. As in awareness, there is strength and the ability to seek healing more intentionally.”

More information

The American Psychological Association has more on racism, bias and discrimination.

SOURCE: Boston University, news release, March 28, 2025

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