COVID-19 has hit some people hard. Analysts are calling it a K-shaped recovery.
People who are in the professional class are doing well. The stock market has boosted their retirement plans and they are saving money on gas, parking, insurance, travel, and vacations. Many received $1,200 from the government.
Then there are those in the service and entertainment industries. Some are gig workers like Uber drivers or musicians, and some live on tourism like waiters, cooks, and maids. These people have run out of extra money and have been hit hard.
There is also the added anxiety of constant media fearmongering, being trapped in the house with your relatives, or general isolation.
It’s no wonder the demand for mental health care is rising sharply. The press has been writing about it for months.
An MSN headline reads: “‘We’re at a Breaking Point’: Addressing Mental Health During COVID-19.”
The WHO says: “COVID-19 Crisis Has Had Devastating Impact on Mental Health Services.”
WMDT, a local news station, writes: “Mental Health Nonprofits Report Increase in Demand, Shifts in Referrals.”
TheJournal.ie has reported that there has been a 50% increase in demand for youth mental health over the last month.
The local ABC station in Maryland reported that there has been an influx of mental health demand since March. One local nonprofit saw 650 new clients since March:
Experts say many people who don’t have a formal mental health diagnosis are reaching out for help more than they have in the past, and the reasons they’re reaching out seem to relate directly to the pandemic… because people are encountering a combination of new stress factors.
Life was hard for many people before the pandemic. COVID-19 has pushed some of these people over the edge.
The most common help is sought for anxiety and depression, followed by substance abuse and family or marital difficulties.
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In a world divorced from optimism, meaning, and routine, it’s easy to see why mental health is a big business. Just look at these numbers:
- Depression is worth $18.9 billion.
- Diabetes is worth $16.4 billion.
- Smoking cessation is worth $39.1 billion.
- Chronic pain is worth $635 billion.
- PTSD is worth $90 billion.
- Alcoholism is worth $35 billion.
- Obesity is worth $19.9 billion.
- Alzheimer’s is worth $13.3 billion.
And for every problem, there is a company selling the solution.
As ThoughtCo. notes, “Prozac is the registered trademarked name for fluoxetine hydrochloride, one of the world’s most widely prescribed antidepressants.”
It was created in the 1970s and approved for treatment of depression by the FDA in 1987. Prozac is produced by Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), which started selling the drug in the U.S. in 1988 with the tagline “happiness in a blister pack.”
Sales took off. ThoughtCo. continues, “By the end of 1988, 2.5 million prescriptions for it were dispensed in America,” and the drug hit “most prescribed” status by 1990.
Eli Lilly’s share price went from $11 to $144.
Another antidepressant, Zoloft, which was manufactured by Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), was approved by the FDA in 1991. Pfizer stock went from $4 to $41 over the next few years.
And of course you know about marijuana stocks like Canopy Growth Corporation (NYSE: CGC), which went from $2.56 to $48.64 as pot was touted as a treatment for depression and anxiety.
That said, I don’t want you to invest in Eli Lilly, Pfizer, or Canopy Growth. Instead, there is a new drug that is looking to be a huge winner.
My friend Jeff Siegel has done the due diligence, and Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary is an investor. O’Leary has said, “This is going to save millions of lives. Why wouldn’t I want to be invested?”
Click here now for the free report. Don’t miss out on this one.
All the best,
Christian DeHaemer Christian is the founder of Bull and Bust Report and an editor at Energy and Capital. For more on Christian, see his editor’s page.