Ten years · Twelve topics · 121 monthly observations
See what the public is trying to understand.
Mental Currents tracks how search interest in mental-health topics rises, recedes and returns, revealing shifts in attention that conventional snapshots miss.
Selected signalADHD+204%
Change from the first 12-month average to the latest 12-month average.
01
Mental-health conversations have changed substantially over the past decade. The language people use, and the subjects they seek out, has moved with them.
Search behavior cannot tell us how many people have a condition. It can reveal where public attention and information-seeking are changing. Across 121 months of data, two trajectories stand apart.
First 12 months vs. latest 12
First 12 months vs. latest 12
02 · What is changing?Twelve lines.
Twelve lines.
Twelve different stories.
Turn topics on or off to compare their trajectories. Each line is a relative index within that topic: compare the shape and change over time, not absolute popularity between conditions.
Relative search interest
Calculated from the workbook: ADHD has the strongest long-term rise, followed by dementia and OCD. Depression and personality-disorder interest are relatively stable across the full period, though recent months can still move sharply.
03
The yearly rhythmAttention has
Attention has
a calendar.
This view removes the long arc and averages observations by calendar month. It is designed to show recurring seasonality, not growth.
Across the 12 series, spring tends to run higher while late summer is often softer. The pattern varies by topic, and does not explain why people search.
04 · Fastest-changing topicsThe long-term
The long-term
shift, ranked.
Change compares the average of the first 12 months with the latest 12 months, limiting the influence of any single spike.
Rank / topicLong-term changeLatest YoYRecent average
01ADHD
+14%81.002Dementia
+26%88.403OCD
+20%85.404Eating disorder
+17%73.805Insomnia
+10%82.806Anxiety
+16%73.707PTSD
+20%78.808Schizophrenia
+15%83.209Addiction
+27%84.910Bipolar
+10%83.811Personality disorder
+0%49.312Depression
+20%71.205 · Condition explorerOne topic.
One topic.
In full.
Select a topic for its long-term trajectory, recent momentum and recurring seasonal pattern.
ADHD
First 12-month average to latest 12-month average.
Latest 12 months compared with the prior 12.
Highest average relative interest across the observed years.
ADHD shows an unusually steep, sustained rise across the decade. Its strongest historical calendar-month average occurs in Apr. Search behavior alone cannot establish why.
Seasonal pattern
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
What might this mean
for the modern workplace?
The data does not explain why people search. It does raise useful questions about whether workplace mental-health strategies are keeping pace with a broader, more varied conversation.
Focus is becoming a mental-health conversation.
The sharp rise in ADHD-related interest may suggest that more people are interpreting focus, executive function and productivity through a mental-health lens. It does not show how many employees have ADHD.
Caregiving may be part of the story.
Growing dementia-related interest raises questions about the burden carried by employees supporting aging parents and relatives. Search behavior alone cannot establish that connection.
The agenda is wider than anxiety and depression.
Movement across OCD, PTSD, addiction and other topics could have implications for programs built around only the two most familiar workplace conditions.
Timing could matter.
Recurring seasonal patterns may help employers think about when to communicate resources, while remembering that a population pattern cannot diagnose or predict an individual employee.
07 · Explore the dataSet your own
Set your own
view.
Choose a condition, adjust the date window, and switch between monthly detail and annual averages.
2016-062026-06
Questions, collaborations & new signalsWhat else should
What else should
we explore?
Have a question about the data, a pattern you want investigated, or an audience whose changing interests you want to understand? Let’s follow the signal.
Talk with Mike ↗Uses a dedicated Mental Currents address. Your email opens in your preferred mail app.08 · Methodology & limitationsRead the pattern.
Read the pattern.
Know its limits.
The site analyzes 121 monthly observations for 12 mental-health search topics, spanning June 2016 through June 2026.
What the index means
The workbook contains relative Google search-interest scores. The index is not a count of searches. A value of 100 represents the peak relative popularity within the underlying series; other values are scaled to that peak.
What can and cannot be compared
Because each worksheet is indexed as its own series, the charts are strongest for comparing trajectory, rate of change and seasonal shape. A score of 80 for one topic should not be read as more raw searches than a score of 60 for another.
Derived measures
Long-term change compares the first 12-month average with the latest 12-month average. Recent momentum compares the latest 12 months with the preceding 12. Seasonal values average every observation for the same calendar month.
Interpret with care
Search interest is not clinical prevalence, diagnosis rate or treatment demand. Media coverage, cultural events, awareness campaigns, news cycles and platform changes may all influence behavior. Findings are indicators of information-seeking and public attention, not epidemiological evidence.