The novel coronavirus pandemic took a toll on the public’s emotional well-being, but a newly released poll found that regular churchgoers report the highest levels of mental health while Democrats remain stuck at the back of the pack.

The Gallup annual mental-health self-assessment released Friday indicated that Americans are struggling with the aftermath of COVID-19, with just 34% rating their mental well-being as “excellent,” the same as last year and a 21-year low for the survey.

View Comments (9)

Those reporting the best mental state were the faithful: 44% of weekly churchgoers said their mental health was “excellent,” more than any subgroup tracked by Gallup and the only one to register higher levels of emotional health in 2021 than in 2019, before the pandemic.

The righteous flourish like the palm tree
    and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the Lord;
    they flourish in the courts of our God.
 They still bear fruit in old age;
    they are ever full of sap and green,
 to declare that the Lord is upright;
    he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. (Ps 92:12-15)

Bringing up the rear were low-income earners and Democrats. Only 28% of Democrats said they had “excellent” emotional well-being, even though the survey was conducted Nov. 1-16, a year after Joseph R. Biden defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential race.

By contrast, 42% of Republicans and 33% of independents reported “excellent” mental health. Both were well below the pre-pandemic 2019 ratings of 56% for Republicans and 44% for independents.

“The wellbeing of most groups mirrors the national trend, with their mental health scores worsening last year followed by little to no improvement this year,” said the Gallup analysis. “However, Democrats’ mental health rating has been steady at a relatively low level since 2019 while frequent churchgoers’ has been steadily high.”

Indeed, just 29% of Democrats reported “excellent” emotional well-being in 2020, almost the same as their pre-pandemic rating of 30% in 2019.

“Democrats’ ‘excellent’ rating of their emotional wellbeing has consistently been the lowest among the three major party groups, ranging from 28% to 30% over the past three years,” Gallup said. “Meanwhile, 44% of U.S. adults who attend religious services weekly rate their mental health more positively than do those who attend about monthly (38%) or seldom or never (29%).”

Americans’ “excellent” mental health rating remains at a 21-year low amid the COVID-19 pandemic, holding at 34% after dropping to that level a year ago. https://t.co/ySpzj2v6wy

— Gallup (@Gallup) December 5, 2021

(Excerpt from The Washington Times. Photo Credit: Getty Images.)

Please share in the comments how God has met your needs in the pandemic.