What a difference a virus makes.
A nation that just two months ago felt supremely satisfied with itself, rewarding President Trump with his highest approval rating since Inauguration Day, is now wracked with stress and worry, and half are facing “mental harm.”
In a string of Gallup surveys before the coronavirus shut down the United States, Americans gave a strong vote of confidence to their place in the world.
But now in two new surveys, they are feeling anxious about their situation.
“The unprecedented worsening in daily emotions — decreases in enjoyment and increases in worry and stress — are likely explained by a compounding set of life-altering factors, including Americans’ uncertainty about their physical and financial health in the near future, the pressures of required social isolation, and the chaos for parents attempting to manage work and childcare out of the home,” said one Gallup survey on “life ratings.”
The second survey, which looked at the effects of the virus, said Americans believe that their mental health would give out before physical and financial health if social distancing policies linger on.
“Majorities in the U.S. say they can continue following social distancing guidelines for ‘as long as is necessary’ before their physical health suffers (68%) or they experience significant financial hardship (54%). But fewer, 48%, say their mental health will hold out as long. Indeed, more say their mental health is already suffering (15%) as a result of COVID-19 social distancing than say the same of their physical (6%) or financial health (9%),” said the survey.
In the “life ratings” poll, Gallup found that Americans once optimistic about their current standing are now somewhat depressed.
“Significant stress and worry on a daily basis have increased in an unprecedented manner,” said Gallup. Since August, stress has jumped 14 points to 60%, and worry is up 21 points to 59%.
And “daily enjoyment” spiraled 20 points to 61%.
Administration officials believe that putting the country back to work will help to change that, but a third Gallup poll found that people aren’t eager to reopen the economy too fast.
But, there is some hope, said Gallup. While depressed about their current situation, Americans remain optimistic about the future.
“The decline in the percentage of adults who are thriving is explained by declines in evaluations of their current lives, with a slight improvement in anticipated well-being in the next five years. These results indicate a resiliency in Americans’ optimism, insulated from the effects of a pandemic that is widely assumed to be greatly diminished by the end of 2021 after a working vaccine is tested and ready for large-scale dissemination,” said Gallup.
