How pandemic financial stress impacts mental health, and what we can do about it

More than a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, some adults still worry about being able to support themselves and their families. Here's how these anxieties affect mental health, how to prevent them from becoming dysfunctional and where to get help.

Mental health has gone awry for many during the pandemic, but these experiences are especially more acute among people who are economically less fortunate. Among US adults age 18 or older, prevalence of depression symptoms was more than threefold higher during the Covid-19 pandemic than before, according to a September 2020 study. Additionally, having lower income, less than $5,000 in savings, and exposure to more stressors such as job loss were linked with a 50% higher risk of depression symptoms during the pandemic. And financial instability can, of course, more immediately impact physical health, too. More than a year into the pandemic, some adults still worry daily about being able to afford their housing, feeding themselves and their families, and paying for health care for themselves and their families. Some readers have shared with CNN Business how their financial anxieties manifested as irascibility, depression, excessive alcohol consumption, dark thoughts and desperation.