A new study shows just how much of a psychological toll the murder of George Floyd took on people in America, particularly among Black Americans.

Following the murder of Floyd, an unarmed Black man killed by a white police officer, more than one-third of Americans reported feelings of anger and sadness in the week after his death.

Black Americans experienced grief at a much higher rate: Nearly one-half of all Black Americans reported feeling angry or sad in the wake of Floyd’s death, and nearly one million more Black Americans screened positive for depression, according to a new analysis of US Gallup and census data.

The researchers also wanted to examine how people’s mental health may have suffered. During the pandemic, rates of depression and anxiety had increased in the population—but the murder of George Floyd added additional mental health burden, particularly for Black Americans, the researchers found.

In their analysis of US Census Household Pulse data gathered in the five weeks before and the week after Floyd’s death, the researchers found that among Black Americans, depression increased 3.2%: 26.7% to 29.9%. For white Americans, it increased 1.2%.

The researchers estimate that for Black Americans, this 2% difference in increase is equivalent to an additional 900,000 individuals screening positive for depression. The researchers estimate that these additional depression screens are each associated with three to seven days of mental unhealth, thus translating to between 2.7 and 6.3 million additional mentally unhealthy days among Black Americans.

For the researchers, the racial disparities revealed in these data show the disproportionate burden that witnessing police violence bears on the Black community.

Read the full article about rates of depression in Black Americans by Melissa De Witte at Futurity.