It’s been somewhat evident that COVID-19 broke many brains from sea to shining sea.
Now, Gallup has the proof.
The longtime polling organization released the results of its annual mental health assessment and found that 34 percent of Americans claim their psyche is in “excellent” condition. That tied last year’s outcome.
The problem is that 2020 and 2021 are Gallup’s lowest recorded totals in the 21 years it has asked the question. Until 2020, that number had never dropped below 42 percent over the past two decades.
Gallup, which issued the results on Friday, noted that when combined with those who describe their mental well-being as “good,” the overall rate climbs to 81 percent of respondents.
Yet that remains below the most recent pre-pandemic level, which was 85 percent.
While it’s arguable relatively few Americans have weathered the worst pandemic in a century very well, what makes Gallup’s findings noteworthy is the demographic breakdown.
Men, people of faith, and Republicans are faring significantly better psychologically, according to Gallup.
For instance, in the 2021 survey, 41 percent of men characterize their emotional well-being as excellent, compared to 29 percent of women.
Excellent also was the category of choice for 44 percent of people who attend church weekly, relative to 38 percent among those who go less often and 29 percent for those who seldom or never visit the pews.
As for politics, 42 percent of Republicans say they are in excellent mental health, compared to 33 percent of independents and just 28 percent of Democrats.
In fact, the only demographic that recorded lower than Democrats on this issue were those who make less than $40,000 a year – and 27 percent of them claimed excellent psychological health.
Gallup reported that although the wellbeing of most groups “mirrors the national trend, with their mental health scores worsening last year followed by little to no improvement this year,” it is Democrats whose mental health rating “has been steady at a relatively low level since 2019.”
“Democrats’ ‘excellent’ rating of their emotional wellbeing has consistently been the lowest among the three major party groups, ranging from 28% to 30% over the past three years.”
“As the pandemic wears on,” Gallup concluded, “Americans’ rating of their mental health, which fell to a new low last year, remains below the 21-year average for the trend. Mental health ratings among women, lower-income earners and Democrats are particularly low. Americans who attend religious services weekly are notably more emotionally resilient than those who are less religious.”
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