Here’s What Americans Worry About Most Right Now
Plus: A strategy for dealing with it all amid the stress of the holidays
War, inflation and other national and world affairs top the list of worries for the average American today, followed by fear of respiratory infections like covid-19, the flu and RSV. Amid all that hovers the usual angst of the holiday season. While most of us don’t have much control over the financial system or global conflict, we can take concrete steps to bolster our immune systems and protect our mental health, putting concerns in proper context and lowering the risk of health-damaging stress, anxiety and infectious diseases.
In a new survey of 1,007 US adults, here’s the percentage of respondents who said these factors were causing them stress:
81%: National issues and world affairs
75%: Rising prices and holiday spending
53%: Increasing cases of respiratory illnesses
44%: The prospect of a travel meltdown like last year
The survey, published Nov. 20, was commissioned by the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine. Other new surveys detail concerns over respiratory viruses, and we’ll get to those worries and how to prevent catching the diseases. But first…
