Poll: Americans’ Mental Health Drops To 20-Year Low As Pandemic Drags On

Topline

A Gallup poll published Monday shows the exacting toll the Covid-19 pandemic, a gruelling election cycle and race relations have taken on the American psyche, with Americans’ self-reported mental health at the lowest point it has been in 20 years.

Key Facts

Crucial Quote

“The latest weakening in positive ratings, from a Nov. 5-19 poll, are undoubtedly influenced by the coronavirus pandemic, which continues to profoundly disrupt people’s lives, but may also reflect views of the election and the state of race relations, both of which were on Americans’ minds this year,” Gallup wrote of the poll’s findings.

Key Background

A significant drop in key metrics for mental wellbeing in 2020 is unsurprising given what has transpired this year. It is in line with many warnings from activists and health professionals that a twin mental health pandemic is bubbling underneath Covid-19, while the World Health Organization earlier this year said that long-term funding and attention will be required to address this. Fear, uncertainty and social isolation are sure to take a mental toll, as are physical illness, deaths, a lack of access to usual medical care and economic woes, including pandemic-induced job losses. Beyond the broader effects of the pandemic, Covid-19 itself is implicated in a rise in mental ill health, with one study showing that one in five Covid-19 patients are diagnosed with a psychiatric illness within three months of testing positive. Worryingly, the same researchers discovered a link between mental illness and catching Covid-19, with those with pre-existing mental health conditions being 65% more likely to be diagnosed, even accounting for other risk factors. The researchers were unable to explain the link. 

Further Reading

Americans’ mental health takes a huge pandemic hit (Axios)

One In Five Covid-19 Patients Diagnosed With A Mental Illness Within Three Months Of Testing Positive, Study Finds (Forbes)

Americans’ Mental Health Ratings Sink to New Low (Gallup)

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