A new poll by the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America revealed that fewer Americans than ever say their mental health is "good" or "excellent."
Notably, this is the first time that less than 30 percent of people have rated their mental health as "excellent," whereas the number of people who said their mental health is either "good" or "excellent" fell to a record low of 72 percent.
Meanwhile, mental health ratings have been declining since the Covid-19 pandemic, as at least 42 percent of Americans regularly described their mental health as "excellent" during that period.
The decline is seen across all groups, with both men and women reporting much worse mental health than before the pandemic. The biggest drops were seen among younger adults, with Gen Z and millennials seeing the sharpest declines, falling by 14 and 16 percentage points.
"I have a lot of patients who get on their phones before bed and see something unpleasant, and it activates their fight or flight (response)," Dr. Olivia Tomasco said to FOX Baltimore. "Their cortisol goes up, and then they can't sleep. And then bad sleep contributes to that cycle of negative feelings and stress and anxiety overall."
Mental health ratings have worsened across political lines as well. Republicans reported a 13-point drop, while Democrats reported a 9-point drop compared with the ratings before the pandemic.
"We could talk for hours about the things that are making society unhappy. Obviously, politics is one thing that my patients are citing a lot, and that's patients from all backgrounds. But certainly, if you're an immigrant in the United States right now, your level of stress is extraordinarily high." Dr Lisa Rosenthal said to The Guardian.
At the same time, more Americans are seeking help. Nearly one in four adults said that they visited a mental health professional in the past year. The average number of yearly visits has also increased, from about 1.5 visits 20 years ago to 3.2 visits at present.
"In some ways, people acknowledging and being willing to talk about mental health struggles is actually a good sign," David Radley, senior scientist for health system tracking at the Commonwealth Fund, said to The Guardian.
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