The American Psychological Association’s annual “Stress in America” poll, published Thursday, found that U.S. adults—already weary from two years of the COVID-19 pandemic—are now overwhelmingly troubled by inflation and the war in Ukraine.
More than 80% of Americans say the economy and supply chain issues along with global uncertainty and safety are significant sources of their stress. I mean, no real suprise there, right? The only time I’m not stressed is when I’m binging another show about con artists and grifters.
But the numbers on this survey were the highest in nearly two decades and the APA described the findings as “alarming.” The findings revealed widespread grief, sense of loss, continual hardships for vulnerable populations, including communities of color.
“Typically, our highest levels of stress have been in the mid 60s, so hitting, for example, 87[%] for inflation as a source of stress is truly astounding,” on APA psychologist told NPR. “We know stress can lead to physical consequences, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease … and emotionally, it can lead to things like anxiety disorders and difficulty sleeping, which we’ve seen in the survey as well.”
Parents and caregivers, in particular, have been hit hard by stress in the past year, researchers found. Parents are not only worried for themselves; they are overly concerned for the future of their children. But as George Packer writes in The Atlantic, it’s not all that easy to be a kid these days, either.
However, the good news from past research is that most people eventually bounce back from temporary stressors. “It might take some time, but most people are resilient and actually recover,” says Dr. Kali Cyrus, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins University, who wasn’t involved with the report. She hopes that those who are stressed link up with friends and family members “because that’s one thing that does promote resilience.”
β¦ FYI: 87% of those surveyed cited rising costs of everyday items, such as groceries and gas, as “a significant source of stress.”
