COVID-19: Stress and Mental Health in the USA

COVID-19: Stress and Mental Health in the USA
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Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u 1. Introduction PAGEREF _Toc94341365 \h 32. Discussion PAGEREF _Toc94341366 \h 42.1 Politics between the Right and Left in the USA PAGEREF _Toc94341367 \h 42.2 COVID-19 and Vaccines – Anti-Vaxxer vs. Pro-Vaxxer PAGEREF _Toc94341368 \h 52.3 Conspiracy Theories – Influencing Public and Mental Health PAGEREF _Toc94341369 \h 62.4 Stress in Social Groups PAGEREF _Toc94341370 \h 72.5 Vaccination Camps and Family Strains PAGEREF _Toc94341371 \h 72.6 Strains among Women PAGEREF _Toc94341372 \h 82.7 COVID-19 and Employment Stress PAGEREF _Toc94341373 \h 92.8 Corporate Responses – Inflation and Price Gauging PAGEREF _Toc94341374 \h 102.9 Effects of the COVID-19 on Housing and Homeless PAGEREF _Toc94341375 \h 112.10 Effects on Housing Costs PAGEREF _Toc94341376 \h 122.11 Food Insecurity and Financial Strain PAGEREF _Toc94341377 \h 122.12 Healthcare Affordability Crisis PAGEREF _Toc94341378 \h 132.13 Effects on Children – Loss of Parents during the COVID-19 PAGEREF _Toc94341379 \h 142.14 Effects of Losing Family Members during the Pandemic PAGEREF _Toc94341380 \h 152.15 Addictions and Substance Abuse PAGEREF _Toc94341381 \h 162.16 Suicide and Depression during the Pandemic PAGEREF _Toc94341382 \h 172.17 Sickness and Long Hauler Stresses PAGEREF _Toc94341383 \h 182.18 Work from Home (WFH) and Remote Working – Stresses of ‘New Normal’ PAGEREF _Toc94341384 \h 192.19 Stresses of Home Schooling and E-Classrooms PAGEREF _Toc94341385 \h 192.20 Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc94341386 \h 213. Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc94341387 \h 22References PAGEREF _Toc94341388 \h 23
1. Introduction
The COVID-19 outbreak remained an unprecedented event for the global economy. The pandemic influenced the economic and social settings worldwide by transforming process controls of routine lives from the core (Czeisler, Howard, & Rajarantam, 2021). In the pandemic, people from different social and age groups in the United States of America (USA) reported positive and negative influences on mental health and behavioral responses. The American economy experienced paradigm shifts in households, schools, businesses, and individual lifestyles (Bruin, 2021). The American government introduced different provisions to control virus contamination in the economy. The government announced lockdowns, standard operating procedures (SOPs) for social distancing, and other reforms to ensure minimal interaction among people. However, the provisions ignored the mental and physical well-being of the American people in the process—the government-controlled widespread viruses and fatalities (Czeisler, Lane, & Wiley, 2021).
The overall objective of this research is to explore, investigate, and measure the stresses experienced by the American economy during the COVID-19 outbreak. The investigation would identify the relationship between the COVID-19 and stress from political, social, and economic perspectives. The paper will study the influences of the pandemic caused by conspiracy theories, employment shifts, inflationary impacts, the introduction of the ‘new normal’ phenomenon, financial strains, and other grievances experienced by the Americans in households. The COVID-19 outbreak is a historical event incurred in the American economy. The country experienced different challenges and strains since people and corporations were unprepared for the situation. The corporations, individuals, and regulatory authorities took different decisions to mitigate the adverse effects on lifestyles and exchanges in the long run.
2. Discussion
2.1 Politics between the Right and Left in the USA
The political landscape in the USA is unfavorable for the social and economic well-being of the country. Recent research suggests that American politics have polarized perspectives when determining provisions for controlling the pandemic. According to Ruisch et al. (2021), two personalities emerged in the USA that represented left (conservative) and correct (empathetic) political views towards the COVID-19 provisions announced by the American government. The conservative personalities are liberal and fundamental sources of disease prevention in society. The personalities exhibited disgusting views about people that reflect minimal sensitivity towards preventions. Such people do not encourage interaction with social groups and commodities, considering a moral responsibility to mitigate environmental contamination (Ruisch et al., 2021). The conservative political views supported the American government to take strict actions to prevent the disease from spreading nationwide.
On the contrary, the political views on the right side are more empathetic while practicing revised norms during the pandemic. The empathetic group focused more on the well-being and prosperity of survivals instead of controlling fatalities. The group emphasized that the American government maintains balance in the provisions (Ruisch et al., 2021). The empathetic personalities protested against the continuous and strict lockdowns to exhibit humanity towards the households. The group argued that the government is creating complexities for the survival of people by injecting financial strains. The right side of the political view considered lockdowns a significant source of unemployment, inflation, and related economic downturns experienced by the USA during the pandemic (Ruisch et al., 2021). The group emphasized maintaining balance in the provisions, causing a conflict with the left side or conservative political groups.
2.2 COVID-19 and Vaccines – Anti-Vaxxer vs. Pro-Vaxxer
The pandemic witnessed the conflicts of views among the anti-vaxxers and pro-vaxxers in the USA. According to Pullan and Dey (2021), the volume of pro-vaxxers was high in the initial variants. People were enthusiastic about receiving vaccines during FY2019 and the first two-quarter FY2020. However, hesitations have increased since mid-FY2020 towards the vaccinations nationwide. American population raised immunity and well-being concerns since the introduction of the delta variant (Pullan & Dey, 2021). Media and other information channels communicated the drawbacks of vaccines, which increased the volume of anti-vaxxers nationwide. Trends suggested that vaccination was dangerous for people in the long run since virus contamination continued to increase while vaccines compromised immunity (Pullan & Dey, 2021).
Montagni et al. (2021) argued that pro-vaxxers protested in the USA regarding the misinformation and guidance provided by media towards public health. Pro-vaxxers stated that fake news circulated among the community, which increased the number of anti-vaxxers. As a result, public health and well-being were compromised during the Delta variant outbreak. Pro-vaxxers accused right side political views to cause panic among the communities towards vaccines, which increased the frequency of COVID-19 cases in the USA (Montagni et al., 2021). Hence, the conflict of views between pro-vaxxers and anti-vaxxers remained an argument in the American population during the pandemic.
Unfortunately, the pro-vaxxers and anti-vaxxers representatives reflected political interests while sharing healthcare concerns within the American communities. The public was over-abundant of the information and unable to cope with the necessary provisions to control contamination. Besides, the American government also failed to mitigate doubts among the communities, both pro-vaxxers and anti-vaxxers, while running vaccination campaigns in the society.
2.3 Conspiracy Theories – Influencing Public and Mental Health
Conspiracy theories were another challenge experienced by Americans during the pandemic. Conspiracy theories emerged due to mistrust between the American government and social groups during the pandemic. The political views and interests compromised public well-being nationwide. Statistically, 26% of the American population believed that the pandemic is a virus created by humans to weaken generational progress in the USA (Leonard & Philippe, 2021). Since the pandemic, the Americans have experienced radicalization and violent responses from the communities. Reports suggest that the political views blame China for causing havoc worldwide in search of supremacy (Leonard & Philippe, 2021). However, the conspiracy theories influenced Americans physically and mentally. The nationwide lockdowns caused American households to experience financial strains and unemployment. As a result, most Americans are subject to frustration, depression, and related mental disorders caused by the fear of the unknown (Leonard & Philippe, 2021).
According to Kim and Kim (2020), conspiracy theories collectively compromise public health through structural and psychological factors. First, the structural factors included blame attributions and negative emotions towards the government. The American government announced strict provisions to control the contamination, causing a conflict of interests with different social groups (Kim & Kim, 2020). Subsequently, the psychological factors include perceived health risks and mistrust of vaccines announced for public safety. Collectively, the two factors influenced the national well-being of Americans regardless of strict provisions and aggressive campaigns deployed by the government to educate people towards health and safety during the pandemic (Kim & Kim, 2020). Hence, the conspiracy theories contributed adversely to average Americans’ public and mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak, while the government failed to establish trust and educate people for appropriate actions.
2.4 Stress in Social Groups
The American society witnessed different social groups during the pandemic. The primary social group was politically active and held opinions in favor of the government. This politically active group remained hostile towards foreign bodies, such as China and related representatives (Saladino, Algeri & Auriemma, 2020). The group blamed the Chinese openly for causing havoc in the society through fatalities, unemployment, and financial constraints. The group exhibited hostility on social media and related public forums, expressing government and regulatory authorities (Saladino, Algeri & Auriemma, 2020). The group believed in the conspiracy theories while representing the left side personalities.
On the contrary, the right side personalities, namely the empathetic group, remained under stress while appearing on public forums with their opinions. The secondary social group was politically inactive and believed in rational reasoning behind the contamination. The representatives ignored spreading conspiracy theories and experienced criticisms from mass audiences in the USA (Saladino et al., 2020). The secondary group remained determined to control fatalities in the society and follow the SOPs announced by the government. However, the group ignored expressing hostile views towards China or other rivals in international politics, causing disassociation from the societal representation (Saladino et al., 2020). The conflict of interests between the two social groups continued distress in American society.
2.5 Vaccination Camps and Family Strains
The establishment of vaccination camps in the USA caused severe stress among the households. According to Jamison (2021), the vaccination camps kept family members in remote areas to ensure social distancing and isolation. Unfortunately, the family members remained uninformed of the vaccines and necessary treatments delivered in the camps. The camps kept families away from treatment disclosure, causing psychological stress in the long run. Besides, most family members are unaware of the well-being and survival probabilities while kept under quarantine by the camps (Jamison, 2021). The fear of the unknown and distance from loved ones created stress and anxiety.
A report published by the Washington Post interviewed two family members from the camp. The report found that the interviewees lost family members or supporters during the camp treatment (Jamison, 2021). Since family members were kept at a distance, the healthcare personnel in vaccination camps could not trace medical history under panic, resulting in improper vaccination. The improper vaccination caused fatalities among most families nationwide, causing distress and trauma among the survivors (Jamison, 2021). The American government maintained silence on the mismanaged provisions deployed by the vaccination camps, causing families distress and chronic mental disorders.
2.6 Strains among Women
The COVID-19 outbreak influenced the average American woman from different perspectives. First, American women experienced challenges related to childcare and the homeschooling of children during the initial phases. The pandemic introduced a ‘new normal’ phenomenon to ensure public safety. As a result, most employed women started to operate remotely to maintain social distance (Peck, 2020). The women experienced challenges in coping with a transformed working environment, such as maintaining work-life balance, maintaining an interactive balance between colleagues and children, and meeting accountability deadlines for offices and households. Women experienced additional burden in the initial lockdowns of FY2019 since schools shifted classes to online channels. American women felt it complicated to deliver adequate daycare to children and maintain education efficacy simultaneously (Peck, 2020). The paradigm shift introduced during the pandemic was unfavorable for American women, causing physical and psychological stresses collectively.
According to Su et al. (2021), the burden influenced most American women to quit jobs and adopt the lifestyles of average homemakers. The corporate environment is pre-operative under the glass-ceiling effect for women. Women experience gender inequalities in terms of the fair pay scale and career progression compared to men (Su et al., 2021). The COVID-19 outbreak and the additional burden of childcare caused by homeschooling influenced women to make rational progression with their careers. Unfortunately, private corporations and the American government failed to create provisions to assist women with physical and mental well-being under the COVID-19 constraints (Su et al., 2021). Hence, the policies announced under the ‘new normal’ phenomenon influenced women to focus on personal health, well-being, and psychological balances since responsibilities increased abnormally.
2.7 COVID-19 and Employment Stress
The pandemic situation in the USA introduced financial strain on the average American household. According to Cooper et al. (2021), unemployment increased to 14.7% until April 2020. The lockdowns and work from home (WFH) policies shut business activities in the USA. Corporations performed downsizing to avoid financial losses. Various industries, such as entertainment, hospitality, and restaurants, were halted, causing massive unemployment nationwide (Cooper et al., 2021). The debt burden on American households increased simultaneously with unemployment. The market reports suggested that the credit card balances increased to USD76 billion during the pandemic that weakened the disposable income among American households. Simultaneously, the mortgage debt remained high throughout FY2020, influencing the financial stability of households further. In some cases, households reported family members’ deaths, which introduced a new challenge for meeting routine expenses (Cooper et al., 2021).
Unfortunately, the American government could not introduce rational policies to balance unemployment and debt burden for the households. According to Franz (2020), the USA experienced a notable increase in consumer price index (CPI) compared to neighboring countries, such as Mexico, Chile, Brazil, and Peru. The American capital markets collapsed since people had minimal disposable income to make investments. Besides, the households were more concerned with routine resources instead of seeking investment options in the economy. Franz (2020) indicated that unemployment came under control during the third quarter of FY2020. The American government introduced subsidy programs for corporations to resume commercial activities and stabilize the economy. However, corporations reduced wages and employee benefits to meet operational costs during the pandemic. The situation remained challenging for American households, collectively strengthening the severity of financial and debt strains.
2.8 Corporate Responses – Inflation and Price Gauging
The inflationary impact is a significant economic downturn in the USA during the pandemic. Reports suggest that American households shifted spending patterns to retail goods instead of services, such as dining. The inflationary impact increased since the CPI for retail goods rose due to abnormal demand among consumers (Li, 2021). The consumers started storing retail goods, such as sanitizers, toiletries, and grocery items. Corporations identified the opportunity and increased prices for retail goods simultaneously. The halo effect between retail demand and inflated supply created hyperinflation in the American economy during the pandemic (Li, 2021).
Arguably, the American economy experienced food and housing inflation in recent times. According to Jaworski (2021), the pandemic influenced corporations to perform gauging by increasing retail prices for edibles. The corporations justified the actions by declaring changes in fuel prices, followed by social distancing constraints, creating complexities in supplying consumer goods (Jaworski, 2021). In this context, the government made necessary changes in the latter years to control the inflationary effects on the economy. However, the short-term effect influenced American households’ CPI brackets and purchasing power, causing financial constraints and contraction in disposable income (Jaworski, 2021). The inflationary effects influenced the households to experience food crisis and shelter complexities during the pandemic.
2.9 Effects of the COVID-19 on Housing and Homeless
The pandemic outbreak increased homelessness in the USA unprecedentedly. American households lost employment and experienced wage reduction during the pandemic. The provisions announced by the government related to lockdowns and social distancing influenced the financial streamline among households. The mortgage cost increased, resulting in the loss of homes for the households (Montgomery et al., 2022). Until FY2020, the USA’s social service and related emergency hotlines unattended shelter problems of most households in the vicinity. As a result, households filed for bankruptcy and became homeless overnight. The American households experienced incarceration and homelessness collectively, causing chronic psychological disorders (Montgomery et al., 2022).
The American government provided immediate support to the households in managing shelter-related challenges. The government announced rent forgiveness and evicted bankruptcy filing to mitigate financial strain among the households. However, during the pandemic, the households remained incompetent to overcome the financial burden to retain shelter (LE, 2021). The households failed to streamline employment and strengthen their financial position to meet expenses like rent and utilities. The social service centers in different states also failed to entertain an overnight inflow of homeless people in the country, causing a social imbalance (LE, 2021). Hence, homelessness remained a social dilemma for Americans during the pandemic.
2.10 Effects on Housing Costs
The housing prices increased during the pandemic, causing another social imbalance in American society. According to Li and Zhang (2021), the pandemic outbreak in the metropolitan city increased the demand for residential spaces. The healthcare sector required residential spaces to offer isolation wards for the patients. The short-term disturbance in demand increased the housing prices in metropolitan cities. Besides, the government delayed response to the crisis in housing prices (Li & Zhang, 2021). The government took action by announcing the rental waivers and other subsidies to control abnormal price hikes in housing and residence. However, the market was subject to price imbalance during the period, causing a disturbance for households to manage financial constraints with housing expenses (Li & Zhang, 2021).
According to Liu and Su (2021), housing prices experienced demand density in the pandemic. The American government offered limited provisions to the people in managing a continuous increase in prices. The population distribution in metropolitan cities caused a further imbalance in housing and residence. People from different states resided in metropolitan cities for employment and other purposes (Liu & Su, 2021). However, the lockdowns announced during the pandemic influenced the rational distribution of housing and expenses for the American population, causing shifts in market forces. Collectively, the American population experienced a housing crisis due to unaffordable prices (Liu & Su, 2021).
2.11 Food Insecurity and Financial Strain
Food insecurity is a subsequent effect of financial strains caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. During the pandemic, the American economy witnessed a rise in food banks nationwide. Households experiencing reduced working hours or unemployment received assistance from different food banks and kiosks (Karpur et al., 2021). However, food insecurity in the USA increased from 3.4% to 10.8% during the pandemic. A sharp rise was incurred between FY2019 to FY2020. Until May 2021, American households experienced a Great Recession in food insecurity. The scarcity rate increased to 15.4% until the beginning of FY2021 (Yenerall & Jensen, 2022). The COVID-19 outbreak in the USA caused unemployment, inflation, and other social challenges that contributed to financial strains among the households directly. Social groups came forward with food banks and kiosks, exhibiting responsibility towards humanity (Yenerall & Jensen, 2022). However, the food crisis contributed to households’ physical and mental stability, particularly children.
During the pandemic, American society experienced imbalances in terms of financial insecurities, malnutrition, and health safety. Mass-scale populations failed to access the necessary resources to survive the COVID-19 crisis (Belsey-Priebe et al., 2021). American society experienced fatalities in most scenarios due to unsafe health provisions. Simultaneously, the survivors witnessed malnutrition and mental disorders among children, which also created dilemmas among the viewpoints of pro-vaxxers and anti-vaxxers (Belsey-Priebe et al., 2021). Unfortunately, the American government failed to deliver its role adequately to combat food insecurity by proposing solutions to financial constraints. The social groups addressed the crisis independently by running food campaigns in different states and establishing food banks to assist people d...