American Mental Health Plummets to All-Time Low: Gallup

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Americans say their mental health has reached an all-time low, according to a Gallup survey released Monday.

Thirty-four percent said their mental health was “excellent,” according to the survey, while 42 percent said it was “good.” Eighteen percent admitted they considered their mental health “fair,” while 5 percent said it was “poor.”

Gallup has asked the question as part of an annual survey since 2001. The pollster noted the number of Americans who said their mental health was in either “good” or “excellent” condition ranged from 81 to 89 percent until this year’s low of 76 percent.

The findings come nine months after the United States began taking lockdown measures aimed at combating the coronavirus pandemic, and amid a December surge of the virus that has prompted many localities to double down on those measures. An executive order by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) banning private gatherings went into effect in that state on Monday, after the state reported reaching a one-day record of 30,075 new coronavirus cases on Saturday.

The decline in mental health has coincided with a rise in so-called “deaths of despair” linked to substance abuse and other issues. Those have included a slew of high-profile figures, including 55-year-old Hollywood producer Steve Bing, who jumped from the 27th floor of his Los Angeles apartment in June, and 46-year-old Tony Hsieh, the billionaire Zappos co-founder who died this week from injuries sustained during a November house fire. Hsieh had been making plans to check into a rehabilitation clinic the day before the incident.

A December report published by Project Opioid, a Florida-based nonprofit group, found drug overdose deaths in that state experienced a 43 percent increase over the first eight months of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

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