During the COVID-19 pandemic, 53% of U.S. adults have said their mental health has been negatively affected by the stress the coronavirus brings, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) tracking poll.
The KFF poll, which was conducted in July, showed that those adults affected negatively by the pandemic increased from March. In March, 32% of adults said their mental health was impacted by the pandemic, compared to 53% in July.
Many of the adults who participated in the poll also indicated that other mental health issues were becoming worse, including 36% of reporting difficulty sleeping, 32% reporting difficulty eating, 12% reporting increases in alcohol consumption or substance use, 12% reporting worry and stress and 12% reporting worsening chronic conditions.
“As the pandemic wears on, ongoing and necessary public health measures expose many people to experiencing situations linked to poor mental health outcomes, such as isolation and job loss,” the KFF study authors wrote.
The poll looked at social distancing practices, the economic recession and challenges in accessing mental health and compared data from during the pandemic to data from before the coronavirus hit.
The poll found that social isolation and loneliness is linked to poor mental health. Data showed that those sheltering in place in March (47%) reported worse mental health, compared to those not sheltering in place in March (37%), according to the KFF poll.
Job loss was also a major stressor linked with increased depression, distress, anxiety and low self-esteem, the poll reported.
“Recent polling data shows that more than half of the people who lost income or employment reported negative mental health impacts from worry or stress over coronavirus, and lower income people reported higher rates of major negative mental health impacts compared to higher income people,” the study authors reported in the poll.
“Poor mental health due to burnout among front-line workers and increased anxiety or mental illness among those with poor physical health are also concerns. Those with mental illness and substance use disorders pre-pandemic, and those newly affected, will likely require mental health and substance use services. The pandemic spotlights both existing and new barriers to accessing mental health and substance use disorder services.”
