The Coronavirus Is Creating A Mental Health Crisis In America's Workforce
Over a third of workers in the U.S. are currently struggling with mental health issues, ranging from moderate distress to serious mental illness. That’s according to a study conducted in March, just as the coronavirus pandemic was beginning to hit the country. Three months into the pandemic ― facing a tanking economy and a public health crisis in which nearly 100,000 people have died in the U.S. ― and workers’ mental health is being tested like never before.
Unlike a natural disaster that has an endpoint followed by cleanup, or a recession where experts can predict recovery based on past economic downturns (each of which can be very traumatic in its own right), we simply don’t know what’s ahead, explained Cheryl Carmin, psychologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. And that’s incredibly stressful for most people.
“A lack of control feeds into anxiety in a major way,” Carmin said. “There is also a sense of trauma here, because people are going through some very difficult times.”
Essential workers are battling to keep going and people are being forced to leave the safety of their homes to go to work without sufficient protection as states reopen. Meanwhile those working from home continue to juggle their jobs with childcare or caring for older or sick relatives, and others remain isolated and anxious. On top of all this, the death toll continues to tick upward and many are trying to come to terms with bereavement during a period of social distancing. It all adds up to a perfect storm when it comes to mental health struggles.
Seven out of 10 people said this is the most stressful time in their entire career, according to a recent MarketWatch survey conducted at the beginning of the pandemic. And, as a Gallup poll done in late March showed, 60% of U.S. adults reported significant stress and worry on a daily basis.
“This pandemic is showing us that mental health issues are not confined to a small minority in the...
