Election leaves majority of Americans with 'negative impact' on mental health, survey finds

In a brand new survey from Forbes Health, a majority of adults surveyed said the 2024 presidential election has had a negative impact on their mental health.

The survey asked 2,000 adults, and 61 percent of the people who responded agreed that the election was not good for their mental health.

"It makes my blood boil, to be honest with you," said Richard Ferneyhough. "But there's not a whole lot you can do about it."

The survey -- which was conducted between September 4-6, 2024 -- showed a different response from men, women and different generations.

Findings show that 66 percent of Gen Z responders report feelings of a least a slight negative impact on their mental health for the 2024 general election. That's comparable in Millennials and Gen X, both of which reported 64 and 63 percent respectively. Meanwhile, Baby Boomers told a different story. Only 56 percent of that generation reported negative mental health from the election.

The survey comes amid a hotly-contested matchup been Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris.

"It's a pretty stressful time for everybody. And not knowing the outcome of what's going to take place. That's all. And the only thing I look for is peace. Peace in the whole nation," Ron McCoy said.

"I just be myself. I'm an old country boy. We ain't nervous about anything," Tim Tant said.

Meanwhile, Margaret Maloney of Raleigh, is a self-proclaimed Harris supporter. She, too, admits the native tone of the race has not been good for her mental health. She told ABC11 that she has had to curb her social media consumption of political information.

"I got off of Twitter, because it made me so anxious to be on Twitter and there's so much anger and so much fear. So mental health is certainly taking a toll," Maloney said. "I mean there's been anxiety for a year. But it's ramping up every day. It's getting worse."

As far as men and women, women were more likely to express the election has had at least a slight negative impact on their mental health -- with the survey showing 63 percent of women compared to 58 percent of men reported a negative mental health impact.