A poll shows that stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult for Americans to make basic decisions.
According to the American Psychological Association’s “Stress in America” survey, millennials have been particularly affected, with nearly 50 percent of more than 3,000 adults reporting that they struggle with daily tasks as the coronavirus continues to spread.
By comparison, only 37 percent of Gen Z, 32 percent of Generation X, 14 percent of Boomers, and 3 percent of seniors I mentioned the same.
Nearly a third of adults who took part in the Harris Poll’s August/COVID Resilience Online Survey said they sometimes feel so stressed about the pandemic that they struggle to make basic decisions, and more than a third said it was more stressful. . Daily and major life decisions compared to life before the pandemic.
Younger adults were more likely to feel decisions are more stressful now, and more than 60 percent agreed that the pandemic has made them rethink the way they live their lives.
Sixty-three percent said uncertainty about the immediate future was causing them stress and half said the pandemic had made planning for the future seem impossible.
“When it comes to general stress, it is not surprising to find that younger generations, who were more likely to say they struggle with basic decisions, also reported higher levels of stress overall,” the study said.
Generation Z adults, Millennials and Generation Xers have reported higher average stress levels over the past month in relation to the pandemic than baby boomers and older adults, and about half of Generation Z adults and Millennials have admitted they don’t know how to manage the stress they feel due to the pandemic.
Decision-making fatigue has a disproportionate effect on parents – especially those with younger children.
In addition, epidemiological stress among people of color remains high, especially for Hispanic and black adults.
Hispanic adults have reported the highest levels of stress, on average, over the past month in connection with the pandemic, and the survey said those findings “was not surprising, given survey results that highlight racial and ethnic disparities in relation to the impact of the pandemic.”
“Specifically, Hispanic adults were more likely than non-Hispanic white adults to know someone who was sick or died of COVID-19,” the survey noted.
Stress levels remain above pre-pandemic levels, and stress related to labor and housing costs increased slightly from last year, although there was a significant downward trend across most factors in the same time frame.
As a result of all this stress, nearly three-quarters of adults in the US said they experienced various health effects such as headaches and fatigue. Fatigue and changes in sleeping habits.
Eighty-six percent of millennials reported the effects of stress, closely followed by 84 percent of Generation Z adults and 77 percent of Generation Xers. Less than 60 percent of boomers and older adults said the same.
Behavioral changes as a result of stress have also been reported, including avoiding social situations, changing eating habits, procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities, or changing levels of physical activity.
More than a third said they eat stress during the first year of the epidemic.
Finally, more than half of adults in the United States said they are experiencing the vagaries of the pandemic, with most having average resilience scores and only 16 percent having high resilience scores.
However, overall, the survey found stress levels to be stable and US adults maintaining a positive outlook.
70 percent expressed confidence that everything would work out at the end of the pandemic, and 77 percent said they were doing well overall.
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