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October represents World Mental Health Month, and many Americans are reporting increased anxiety surrounding the upcoming presidential election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
A new survey shows 77% of Americans reported feeling anxiety about the November 5 election, and nearly 6 in 10 (58%) said the election has had a negative impact on their mental health.
Overall, 85% reported the current political divide has a negative impact on the nation’s collective mental health.
The data, taken from over 2,000 Americans at the beginning of October, comes from a joint survey by Project Healthy Minds and the Harris Poll. Project Healthy Minds is a millenial/Gen Z-driven mental health tech nonprofit that seeks to destigmatize the issue and democratize access to services, according to its website.
Meanwhile, the Harris Poll is a decades-old global consulting and market research firm. It has no correlation to Vice President Kamala Harris.
“With Election Day fast approaching, Americans are feeling the pressure, and it’s affecting their mental well-being in ways we haven’t seen before,” stated Phillip Schermer, Founder and CEO of Project Healthy Minds.
“Election anxiety is a real and pressing issue, and we hope these insights encourage a national conversation about the impact of politics on mental health,” Schermer added.
Tight race, divisive rhetoric contribute to anxiety
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris promotes herself as a litigator with the demeanor and experience to continue Biden’s policies as the next president amid domestic and foreign crises.
“When you’ve lost millions of jobs, you lost manufacturing, you lost automotive plants, you lost the election, what does that make you? A loser,” Harris said on a recent appearance of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Meanwhile, twice-impeached former Republican president Donald Trump uses anti-immigrant rhetoric in an attempt to amplify voters’ anxieties around immigration and blame Harris.
““When you look at the things that she proposes, they’re so far off she has no clue. How about allowing people to come to an open border, 13,000 of which were murderers,” Trump recently said of the Biden-Harris administration’s policies.
““You know, now a murderer, I believe this, it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now,” Trump said.
Recently, a collection of polls from Reuters/Ipsos and FiveThirtyEight show Harris leading Trump among voters nationally. Though a Quinnipiac poll shows Trump leading Harris in two of three key battleground states.
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Election anxiety and more
Hidden beneath the rhetoric on the campaign trail is the impact it’s having on voters’ mental health. The Project Healthy Minds 2024 State of Mental Health Survey also found the negative impact was more likely to affect older Americans. Many reported not seeking help despite feeling like they needed it.
Notably, the election isn’t the only issuing giving Americans anxiety. A whopping 66% of Americans polled said finances were causing negative mental health, 60% brought up mass shootings as a cause and 53% named extreme weather events.
The report was released on Thursday, October 10 during World Mental Health Day.
“We are releasing this data on World Mental Health Day to underscore how vital it is to address these intersecting issues before they take a deeper toll on our nation’s mental health,” Schermer added. “Now is the time for innovative solutions and expanded access to mental health services.”
Advocates urge more conversations on mental health
The Black Wall Street Times spoke with Dwayne Mason, the executive director of Mason Counseling Services and Board member of the Tulsa Black Mental Health Alliance.
Growing up in north Tulsa, he knows what it’s like to ignore mental health support, but he has a message for the community.
“I would tell them just because they’re functioning, if they look deep into other areas of their life, they will see the impact of their lack of self care into their mental health,” Mason told the Black Wall St. Times.
To seek immediate mental health care, please call or text 988. To seek longterm care, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline 800-662-4357 or the Black Emotional And Mental Health Collective (Beam) at 1-800-604-5841.
The survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Project Healthy Minds between October 1-3, 2024, among 2,090 adults ages 18+.
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