There are glimmers of hope, experts say, amid the gloomy outlook.

The sudden push into telemedicine could make services more accessible in years to come. And the national mental health crisis could spark reforms and movement toward better treatment.

And while almost everyone is experiencing increased stress, the effect for many will be transient — trouble sleeping, shorter fuses.

The difficulty is identifying and treating those who develop deeper, worrisome mental problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression.

“To control the virus, it’s all about testing, testing, testing. And for the mental health problems ahead, it’s gonna be all about screening, screening, screening,” said Gionfriddo of Mental Health America.

For years, Gionfriddo’s nonprofit has offered questionnaires on its website — widely used in medicine — to help people screen themselves for mental health problems. Since the pandemic began, those daily screenings have jumped 60 to 70 percent. And since February, the number of people screening positive for moderate to severe anxiety and depression has jumped by an additional 18,000 people compared with January.

Speaking from her parents’ home in Pittsburgh, Ananya Cleetus said she has felt the increased strain.

First came the closure of her school, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, bringing to an end her ambitious plans for the semester in computer engineering. Then came the loss of her therapist, forbidden by licensing rules from treating her across state lines. And social media didn’t help — all those posts of people baking bread and living their best #quarantinelife, making hers feel all the more pitiful.

It was getting increasingly hard to get out of bed, said Cleetus, 23, who has a bipolar disorder and helps lead a student advocacy group.

“It took me a few weeks and talking to friends to finally realize this wasn’t just something wrong with me,” Cleetus said. Since then, she has poured her energies into creating a daily routine and an online guide for fellow students struggling with the pandemic and mental health.

“This virus is messing with everyone. The anxiety, isolation, uncertainty,” she said. “Everyone’s struggling with it in one way or another.”

If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255). Crisis Text Line also provides free, 24/7, confidential support via text message to people in crisis when they text to 741741.