A new study released Wednesday says the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is taking a heavy toll on Americans’ mental health.br More than a quarter of adults surveyed have clearly experienced depression symptoms recently.br That's over three times as many who said the same in a survey taken before the pandemic began.br Overall, 27.8 of participants surveyed met the criteria for depression during the pandemic period in March and April.br In comparison, Gizmodo reports just 8.7 reported the same in the earlier survey.br More women reported depression symptoms than men in either time period, but the gap grew larger during the pandemic.br 33.3 of women had symptoms of depression during the pandemic, compared to 21.9 of men.