UWLP Blog - Mental Health

The Utah State University Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) has recently published a research report, “Utah Women and Mental Health: A 2025 Update." This report builds upon a 2017 snapshot and incorporates new data and trends. Among the vast range of mental health conditions, depression and anxiety disorders are among the most common in Utah.

Given the high rates of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, continued research is crucial to inform both policy and practice and to help new mothers most at risk. To learn more, view our full research snapshot and infographic.

Given the high rates of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, continued research is crucial to inform both policy and practice and to help new mothers most at risk.

Health promotion efforts should adopt a “safety first” approach that begins by identifying whether individuals have sufficient and reliable access to affirmative and protective social relationships that provide them with consistent validation, affirmation, protection, and belonging.

Suicide is a serious, evolving, and complex public health issue that negatively impacts individuals, families, and communities across Utah, the nation, and the world. Suicide can have lasting and harmful effects on everyone touched in some way, and it carries high economic and human costs.

This research brief sheds light on the health effects of COVID-19 on working women. The pandemic affected every aspect of life, especially physical and mental health. Learn about important actions that can support the mental and physical health of Utah women in the workforce.

Did you miss this Women's Leadership Forum event? Don't worry! You can read about it and watch the full recording here.

On November 17th, the Utah Women & Leadership Project hosted a workshop entitled “Emotional Wellbeing for Young Women: Understanding Your Brain, Body, and Behavior.” Read the recap here.

Good mental health is a critical component of overall wellbeing, hence the influence of therapists is expanding in Utah. As they increasingly recognize and address gender-specific challenges, mental health providers can positively influence girls and women, as well as families, communities, and the state as a whole.

One recent in-depth study showed Utah ranking sightly below the national average in the percentage of adults who suffer from poor mental health, the state regularly reports rates higher than the national average for depression. Utah women, like women nationally, are diagnosed with depression at much higher rates than men.

Women who reported sexual harassment, the "silence breakers," were chosen by time magazine as the person of the year for 2017. Although workplace sexual harassment has likely been around since the conception of workplaces, and sexual harassment has been illegal in the U.S. for decades.

I typically responded to the first with a fake laugh to avoid giving an actual answer. No one really wants to hear the long answer, that I inherited my mother’s petite frame, and most of my meals were consumed standing up. I also have the mad skills of making one peanut butter sandwich last for hours.