Verywell (www.verywellmind.com) just announced the launch of The Verywell Mind Mental Health Tracker, a monthly report that measures Americans’ stress, moods, and the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first wave of results revealed that nearly twice as many young adults (Gen Z and Millennials) are stressed compared to Boomers (62% vs. 35%), particularly about jobs, finances, and re-entering the post-pandemic world. They also struggle more with feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, and the potential stigma associated with seeking professional help.

As states begin loosening restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic, Verywell’s monthly Mental Health Tracker monitors attitudes and behaviors around the mental well-being of 4,000 Americans, representing a range of demographics including gender, race, religion, age, and political views. The Verywell Mental Health Tracker is one of the industry’s first ongoing studies measuring specific mental health indicators like self-esteem, sleep, and stress each month.

“What we’ve discovered with this first wave of results is that the pandemic has taken a serious toll on Gen Z,” said Amy Morin, Editor-in-Chief, Verywell Mind. “So while it’s important to focus on the physical health of the older generations, we also need to start paying more attention to the mental health of the younger generations.”

Key findings of the first monthly tracker include:

Younger Americans are stressed out:

• Less than half of Gen Z said their mental health is “good”
  • Two thirds (65%) of Americans overall rated their mental health as “good” or “better” over the last 30 days, but this number dips below half for Gen Z (42%).
• Older adults are significantly more likely to say their mental health is “good” or “better”:
  • Silent Generation: 86%
  • Boomers: 76%
  • Gen X: 65%
  • Millennials: 59%
• Similar trends can be seen in stress, with Gen Z and Millennials (62%)  nearly twice as likely as Boomers (35%) to say they’ve been at least moderately stressed in the last 30 days.

Work and financial problems are stressing younger Americans the most:

• COVID-19 and parenting are the most common sources of stress. Nearly half of Americans said much of their stress is related to both COVID-19 (49%) and parenting in general (48% among parents). However, when it comes to the single biggest source of stress over the last month, COVID-19 jumped to the front of the line with 27% of Americans, followed by financial problems (24%).
• For Gen Z, financial problems (24%) and work (23%) are the top two sources of stress. While the COVID-19 pandemic ranks either first or second among all other generations as the single biggest source of stress, for Gen Z, it ranks fifth at just 16% compared with:
  • Silent Generation: 44%
  • Boomers: 37%
  • Gen X: 26%
  • Millennials: 21%

For more information on The Verywell Mind Mental Health Tracker and to read the full findings visit here.