The Morning: Americans’ struggle with mental health

Plus, the 2024 campaigns, Taylor Swift and artistic swimming.

View in browser|nytimes.com August 8, 2024 Good morning. Today, we're covering the mental health struggles of young people — as well as the 2024 campaigns, Taylor Swift and artistic swimming. In Nevada. Bridget Bennett for The New York Times A national struggle By Ellen Barry I cover mental health. It is no mystery why rates of anxiety and depression in the United States climbed in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. But then life began a slow return to normal. Why haven't rates of distress returned to normal, too? Self-reported anxiety and depression have declined from the peak they reached in November 2020, when 42.6 percent of adults said they had symptoms, according to the Household Pulse Survey, a Census Bureau tool that measures well-being. Since then, that figure has declined to 20.7 percent. That's still double the 11 percent of Americans who said the same thing before the pandemic. In today's newsletter, I'll explain why. Researchers say a big reason for this stubbornly elevated distress is young people, whose low mood was not linked to the pandemic. A youth epidemic The share of young adults reporting anxiety and depression had been rising for about a decade before Covid struck. That continued throughout the pandemic — and did not ease as quickly when vaccines became available. This is likely because their symptoms were tied to problems other than the virus, like economic precarity, the housing crisis, social isolation and political turmoil, said Emma Adam, a psychologist at Northwestern. "There's so many things affecting adolescents and young adults that are about uncertainty with their future," Adam said. "And that hasn't changed." Age, of course, tracks with income. Adam's team found that people between the ages of 18 and 39 were half as likely to live in their own home as their counterparts over 40. That means they were especially vulnerable to inflation, rent increases and job loss — just as they faced big decisions like whether to have children or own a home. But it wasn't just about the economy. Researchers at Johns Hopkins found measurable declines in mood after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that abolished the federal right to abortion. Women in states where abortion bans took effect had reported more anxiety and depression compared with counterparts in other states. There was no such difference for men. Even though politics, law and the economy affect everyone, the young may pay more attention to social conditions, said Ludmila Nunes, who tracks research for the American Psychological Association. So they are both more exposed to the consequences and more aware of them. "These events affect them more than older people," Nunes said. "So it's normal that they are going to respond more." The older, the happier The good news is, by some measures, distress is gradually declining. In November 2020, when vaccines were announced, "we see what almost looks like an exhale" among people in midlife or older, said Sarah Collier Villaume, another researcher at Northwestern. There are various ways to measure mental distress, and not all of them reflect that exhale. The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a national survey conducted by the C.D.C. that asks subjects how many days of poor mental health they experience per month, shows an unbroken upward trend. But that metric, too, shows that age boosts mental health. While older people show declines in attention and memory, they seem to gain more control over their emotions. Some research suggests that older people learn to focus more on positive memories — or what one team of psychologists called "emotionally gratifying memory distortion" regarding the past. Researchers at Boston College set out to test this hypothesis by surveying people between the ages of 18 and 80 about their memories from the early part of the pandemic. They found something paradoxical: The older their subjects were, the more positive memories they had of the pandemic, even though they were physically more at risk. This puts young people at a disadvantage when facing traumatic events. And if their stress was driven by economic and political uncertainty, rather than fear of illness, then there is no reason to expect it to recede. Adam said her best guess is that older Americans would continue to recover faster than younger ones. "We can't answer the fundamental question" of when, and if, Americans' moods will return to a prepandemic norm, "except to predict very strongly that the age disparities will still be there," she said. More on mental health: A psychiatrist livestreamed a conversation with a troubled video game champion. Did that cross an ethical line? THE LATEST NEWS Democratic Campaign Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz.  Jenn Ackerman for The New York Times In Wisconsin, Kamala Harris blamed corporations for inflation and the cost of living. She vowed to make lowering prices "a Day 1 priority." Harris stopped the crowd from chanting "lock him up" about Donald Trump, saying: "The courts will take care of that. We're going to beat him in November." Pro-Palestinian protesters chanting "We won't vote for genocide" interrupted Harris in Michigan. "If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that," Harris, who spoke with pro-Palestinian activists before the rally, said. "Otherwise, I am speaking." Gov. Tim Walz, Harris's running mate, and his aides crafted a strategy more than a year ago to inject him into national politics. It worked. Republican Campaign Trump suggested he would debate Harris, whom he called "nasty," days after pulling out of a planned debate on ABC News. JD Vance, Trump's running mate who is a former Marine, accused Walz of quitting the Army National Guard to avoid going to Iraq. A fellow veteran said Walz had decided to run for Congress months before the unit got its orders. Trump's campaign accused Walz of mishandling the 2020 protests over George Floyd's murder. But at the time, Trump said he was "very happy" with Walz's response, ABC News reported. Trump wants to end taxes on tips and Social Security benefits. The plans, meant to appeal to service workers and retirees, would cost the government trillions of dollars. Vance wrote the foreword to a book by the head of the conservative group that coordinated Project 2025. The author now plans to delay the book until after the election. Middle East Ten months of conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border has transformed the landscape and nearby towns. See satellite images of the destruction. Iranians are watching, worried, to see if their government will retaliate against Israel for killing a Hamas leader in Iran. Other countries are urging restraint. More International News In Sudzha, Russia, after a Ukrainian attack. Acting Governor Of Kursk Region Alexei Smirnov, via Reuters Ukraine launched a surprise ground assault inside Russia, putting Ukrainian troops and armored vehicles across the border. After anti-immigrant riots, thousands of counterprotesters gathered across Britain. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's diplomatic trip to Asia ended in Mongolia, where the prime minister gave him a horse. Mongolia loves to do that. Climate and Weather Tropical Storm Debby gained strength over the Atlantic and returned to shore, pounding the Carolinas with heavy rain. See the latest. Extreme temperatures around the Great Barrier Reef are at their highest levels in at least 400 years, researchers found. The world's largest iceberg has been spinning in place for nearly a month. No one knows when it will stop. After a wildfire devastated the island of Maui last year, Hawaii officials have come up with a plan to prevent another one. Other Big Stories Taylor Swift Matteo Bazzi/EPA, via Shutterstock Taylor Swift canceled her tour in Austria after officials arrested two men suspected of plotting terrorism in Vienna — including at her shows. The Education Department announced that the FAFSA form, for federal student aid applications, would come out late for a second year in a row. The C.D.C. updated its guidance on IUDs, the contraceptive device, to include more pain-relief options for patients. Two astronauts who flew to the International Space Station in June for a brief mission may be stuck there until next year because of problems with their Boeing spacecraft. Baltimore refuses to release details about its response to an epidemic of fatal opioid overdoses, citing a lawsuit against the pharmaceutical industry. Opinions The U.S. wants to kill a half million owls to save a different, endangered species. That is misguided, Avram Hiller, Jay Odenbaugh and Yasha Rohwer write. Miguel Macias has some regrets over having a child. Acknowledging them taught him to accept uncertainty, he writes. Here are columns by Charles Blow on the Harris-Walz campaign and Pamela Paul on identity politics. Subscribe Today The Morning highlights a small portion of the journalism that The New York Times offers. To access all of it, become a subscriber with this introductory offer. MORNING READS Spot the camera. Nathan Angelakis Go, pros: Sea lions with cameras are helping map the ocean floor. Silicon Valley: Therapists are becoming coaches for executives. New York City: Eighth Avenue is a thoroughfare for tourists and a hub for Broadway shows. It's also trash-strewn chaos. Health: Hearing and vision loss can increase the risk of dementia. Fixing them — with surgery and hearing aids — can reduce that risk. Screenland: "Stop asking celebrities to sing our national anthem." Vials and syringes: People are overdosing on Ozempic alternatives. Lives Lived: Billy Bean, an outfielder for the Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, retired in 1995 because he thought baseball was not ready for an openly gay player. Years after he came out, he returned to the sport as the M.L.B.'s first ambassador for inclusion. Bean died at 60. SPORTS The Chinese team. James Hill for The New York Times Artistic swimming: The U.S. team won its first medal in 20 years, taking silver in a field that lacked Russia. The athletes in the sport are demanding more respect. Track and field: Quincy Hall snapped an American drought in the men's 400 meters, shocking the fastest Olympic field ever with a comeback win. Final results: U.S. figure skaters received their gold medals for the team event at the 2022 Beijing Olympics after a 912-day delay. They weren't the only athletes being awarded belated medals. Women's basketball: The Americans routed Nigeria, 88-74, in the quarterfinals. Next up? A familiar Australian team. ARTS AND IDEAS Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times We are in a new era — the Age of the Sandal. Men in particular are flaunting their toes all over New York City, and our Styles reporter isn't thrilled about it. Read more about the trend. More on culture Utah banned 13 books, including works by Judy Blume and Margaret Atwood, from all public schools because they have content considered pornographic or indecent. Dress codes in workplaces have become more relaxed. Some D.C. interns have come overdressed for their first day, The Washington Post reports. In 1999, audiences questioned whether "The Blair Witch Project" was real. It's a feeling that permeates our age of misinformation. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Christopher Testani for The New York Times Make the crispiest, cheesiest zucchini bites in an air fryer. Test your knowledge of book titles. Prepare for fall with a paper planner. Make great pizza at home. Read an oral history of second-wave feminism. Collect your food scraps with a kitchen compost bin. GAMES Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was infantry. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account. 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