Many in U.S. lonely, anxious
Survey shows pandemic has widespread effect
Americans are feeling isolated and anxious. They fear they or their loved ones will get sick.
They worry about their jobs.
As the coronavirus pandemic upends lives across the United States, it’s taking a widespread toll on people’s mental health and stress levels, according to a survey that finds a majority of Americans felt nervous, depressed, lonely or hopeless in the past week.
“It’s just so overwhelming, the fear and anxiety,” said 49-year-old Julie Hitchcock of Milwaukee, who had pneumonia last fall. She spent two weeks on a ventilator and 10 weeks away from work, only to be furloughed because of the coronavirus shutdown shortly after resuming work full time.
Her furlough ended last week. She rides city buses to and from her job at an international
education nonprofit, and that drives her fears that she could get sick or unknowingly have the virus and infect someone else, who then might end up on a ventilator.
The poll conducted last week is the first wave of the COVID Impact Survey by NORC at the University of Chicago for the Data Foundation. The survey aims to provide an ongoing assessment of the nation’s mental, physical and financial health during the pandemic.
The survey found that in New York:
■ 93 percent of New Yorkers say they have worn a face mask
■ 37 percent have worked from home
■ 45 percent have stockpiled food
■ 57 percent said they did not work for pay last week
■ 10 percent said they felt lonely 5 to 7 days out of the past 7 days, while half said they didn’t feel lonely
Roughly two-thirds of Americans say they felt nervous, depressed, lonely or hopeless on at least one of their past seven days, the poll found. For each of the four emotions, close to 2 in 10 Americans said they felt that way on three or more days. Fourteen percent said they felt reactions such as sweating, becoming nauseous or hyperventilating when thinking about the pandemic.
The survey also found bright spots: About one-fifth report more frequent texting, phone calls or online contact with friends and family. About 70 percent of New Yorkers said they connected with friends and family daily during the pandemic, higher than the national average of 65 percent. Before the pandemic, about 53 percent of New Yorkers contacted friends and family daily.
The survey finds women more likely than men to say they had felt at least one of the distressful emotions in the past week, 71 percent to 56 percent.
Emotional distress was common among younger adults. Some 81 percent of Americans under 30, along with 70 percent of those age 30-44, report feeling nervous, depressed, lonely or hopeless at least one day in the past week. That compares with 62 percent of those age 45-59 and 48 percent of ages 60 and over.
Physical distancing, the lack of predictability, economic upheaval and the inability to mourn the death of loved ones in traditional ways all are taking their toll, said Dr. Karestan Koenen, a professor of psychiatric epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.