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The Facts
The 2024 World Happiness Report – a publication from the Sustainable Development Solutions Network that uses data from the Gallup World Poll – ranks the United States 23rd overall on its happiness list, down from 15th last year. However, disturbingly, Americans under the age of 30 rank 62nd. The report also highlights the widespread concern, especially in America, about an “emerging epidemic of loneliness, and about the consequences of loneliness for mental and physical health.”
The American Psychological Association’s (APA) report Stress in America 2024 revealed a country dealing with multiple stressors as Americans braced for the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Taken straight from the report:
More than 7 in 10 adults reported the future of our nation (77 percent) as a significant source of stress in their lives, making it the most common source of significant stress in this year’s survey. The economy was the second most common, with percent of adults having reported it as a significant source of stress. The 2024 U.S. presidential election followed closely at 69 percent.
Around 2 in 5 adults reported the state of the nation has made them consider moving to a different country (41 percent) and the political environment in their state has made them consider moving to a different state (39 percent). In addition, nearly two-thirds of adults (64 percent) felt as though their rights are under attack.
A strong majority (82 percent) were worried that people may be basing their values and opinions on false or inaccurate information.
Around a third of adults (32 percent) reported the political climate has caused strain between them and their family members, and 3 in 10 (30 percent) said they limit their time with family because they don’t share the same values.
Research from the University of Nebraska and the University of California San Francisco also found that America’s political environment can have a negative impact on the mental health of Americans: “Large numbers of Americans reported politics takes a significant toll on a range of health markers – everything from stress, loss of sleep, or suicidal thoughts to an inability to stop thinking about politics and making intemperate social media posts.”
A March 2023 survey conducted by NORC (at the University of Chicago) and The Wall Street Journal found that 78 percent of respondents said they don’t feel confident that life for their children’s generation will be better than it has been for their own, the highest percentage since the survey began asking the question over three decades ago. Only 12 percent of respondents described themselves as “very happy,” the lowest percentage of Americans in fifty years.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness reports that over 40 million adults in America have an anxiety disorder.
In the latest mental health survey from KFF – an independent, nonpartisan source for health policy research, polling, and journalism – “an overwhelming majority of the public (90 percent) think there is a mental health crisis in the U.S. today, with most people saying the opioid epidemic, mental health issues in children and teenagers, and severe mental illness are at crisis level in the country. Taken straight from the report:
Many adults report experiencing what may be considered a severe mental health crisis among their family members. Half of all adults (51 percent) say they or a family member have experienced a severe mental health crisis, including received in-person treatment because they were a threat to themselves or others (28 percent), engaged in cutting or self-harm behaviors (26 percent), had a drug overdose requiring an ER visit (21 percent), experienced homelessness (16 percent) or ran away from home (14 percent) due to mental health problems, died by suicide (16 percent), or had a severe eating disorder (8 percent).
The youngest adults, ages 18-29, are both the group reporting the most concerns with their mental health and also more likely to report they are seeking mental health services, but not always able to access them. Half of young adults say they have felt anxious either “always” or “often” in the past year (compared to a third of adults overall), one-third describe their mental health or emotional well-being as “only fair” or “poor” (compared to 22 percent of adults overall).
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people ages 10-14 and 25-34.
Suicide attempts were reported most frequently among girls compared to boys and among non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native students.
Young people who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual have higher prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behavior compared to their peers who identify as heterosexual.
Youth and young adults have high rates of emergency room visits for self-harm. The rate of ER visits among girls in 2020 was approximately double compared to 2001.
The number of American deaths caused by alcohol-related diseases more than doubled between 1999 and 2020. The largest increase was among those age 25 to 34, whose rate of death increased by almost four times. Although women are far less likely than men to die of an illness caused by alcohol, their rate of death has increased by two and a half times.