(FamilyConservationPAC.com) – According to a Gallup survey, Americans’ mental health is deteriorating.
Just under one-third, or 31%, of the 1,020 persons who participated in the Gallup survey’s self-assessment rated their mental health as “good.” That is the “lowest rating by three percentage points,” according to Gallup.
Down from 45% in 2017, only 34% of people in 2020 and 2021 rated their mental health as “good.” However, in 2012, 48 percent of people said their mental health was “good,” compared to 51 percent in 2004.
In other words, the percentage of Americans who say their mental health is “good” has decreased by 20 points over the past 18 years.
Although 44% of respondents said their mental health was “good,” the study found that the combined score of 75% for good and excellent was “the lowest on record and 10 points below the average since 2001.”
Seven percent of respondents said their mental health was “bad,” the “highest” the study has ever seen, while another 17 percent said it was “just fair.”
Younger folks are more likely to report having poor mental health than older people. Compared to 18% of those aged 35 to 54, 46% of those in the 18 to 34 age group reported they had fair or poor mental health.
With only 16 percent of individuals 55 and older describing their mental health as good or bad, the percentage is considerably lower.
Additionally, about a quarter of individuals reported a recent visit with a mental health practitioner.
In line with Gallup:
“Data from the same poll showed that nearly one-quarter of U.S. adults, 23%, report having visited a psychologist, therapist, psychiatrist, or some other mental health professional in the past 12 months.
This marks a sizable uptick in mental health visits since the question was last asked in 2004 when 13% of U.S. adults said they had seen a mental health professional.
At that time, a record-high 51% of Americans rated their mental health as excellent — 20 points higher than today. In 2001, the only other year Gallup asked about mental health visits, 10% reported seeing a professional, and 43% described their mental health as excellent.”
Again, younger people are more likely to report having visited a mental health professional in the previous year.
And according to reports, 34% vs. 24% were for those aged 35 to 54 and 13% for those 55 and older.
Just 26% of Americans regard their physical health as “good,” which is not much better than the overall statistics. This is “lowest on record by one point,” once more.
The survey reveals that mental health ratings are lower than pre-coronavirus levels and that physical health evaluations have been less adversely affected by the pandemic.
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The survey had a +/- 4% margin of error and was conducted among 1,020 adults from November 9 to December 2, 2022.
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