“Americans Experiencing More Mental Stress”
Sadly, 2020 has been especially stressful for all Americans. The COVID-19 pandemic, the lock down, job layoffs, the tanking of the stock market, the crash of the petroleum industry, and the racial rioting has had a cumulative negative effect on all of us. Yes, 2020 has been rough on the American psyche. Folks in the U.S.A. are more unhappy today than they have been in nearly 50 years. Gun sales and alcohol sales are at all time highs. About twice as many Americans report being lonely today as in 2018, and not surprisingly given the lockdowns that tried to contain the spread of the coronavirus, there has also been a drop in satisfaction with social activities and relationships. Compared with 2018, Americans also are about twice as likely to say they sometimes or often have felt a lack of companionship (45% vs 27%) and felt left out (37% vs 18%) in the past 4 weeks. Some have expressed that 2020 fast forwarded a spiritual decay. Reportedly, one in ten people in the U.S.A.
