- Anxiety rates are spiking among U.S. adults. According to a new poll, 43% of U.S. adults say they feel more anxious in 2024 than they did last year, up from 37% in 2023 and 32% in 2022.
- Rippling effects in the workplace. Declining mental health can impact a worker’s mood, productivity and ability to meet deadlines, and lead to interpersonal conflict and absenteeism.
- Support employees with well-being benefits. Employers can support employees by prioritizing work-life balance and bulking up benefits packages to include a robust employee assistance program with free and low-cost access to therapy.
Current events and uncertainty about what the future holds is causing anxiety to increase at an alarming rate among U.S adults, according to the American Psychiatric Association’s 2024 mental health poll. This year’s version of the annual APA poll showed 43% of surveyed adults feel more anxious than they did last year, up from 37% in 2023 and 32% in 2022.
According to the poll, which surveyed more than 2,200 adults, people are particularly anxious about current events, with 77% citing the economy as their greatest worry, while 73% of adults are anxious about the 2024 presidential election and 69% are anxious about gun violence.
Other anxiety-inducing topics cited in the survey include safety related to family, self and identity; issues related to health; the ability to pay bills; climate change; the opioid epidemic; and advances in technology impacting day-to-day life. Americans also cited issues such as stress, sleep and social connections as contributing factors to their mental health.
The Impact of Anxiety at Work
The workplace is not immune from these issues, which can affect employee productivity and burnout, said Candice Pokk, a senior consultant for organizational effectiveness at Segal, a benefits and HR consultancy.
“Uncertainty is rampant today like never before, occurring in many different spheres all at once,” Pokk said. “Rising costs and inflation are hitting Americans hard, with the cost of food skyrocketing and homeownership becoming increasingly out of reach.”
Pokk listed other factors, such as “polarized and ever-changing election dynamics and gun violence” as additional areas of concern among workers. Stress related to job uncertainty is also to blame, with rapid changes in technology causing many workers to fear for their jobs as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more advanced, Pokk said.
Anxiety also can lead to issues related to difficulty concentrating on the job, irritability, interpersonal conflicts with teammates and management, an inability to meet deadlines, and increased absenteeism, said Erin Terkoski Young, a licensed clinical social worker and director of health, equity and well-being at WTW. These issues can have a direct impact on the overall success of a company, Young said.
“Employers understand that anxiousness and stress are a part of personal lives and work lives in different ways,” Young said. “Employers are increasingly concerned about providing access to the right tools and supports to address mild anxiety and stress, but also ensuring that the higher clinical care needs for acute anxiety are available across their populations.”
Look for Signs
So, how can employers know a worker might be dealing with something beyond common stress?
Anxiety can often manifest physically in the form of a racing heart, stomachaches, headaches, and changes in sleep and eating patterns, among other symptoms, said Dr. Jessi Gold, the chief wellness officer for the University of Tennessee System.
“The brain-body connection is critical to notice, as sometimes anxiety and panic can lead people to go to the ER or their primary care doctors with frequent concerns,” Gold said. It is also important to distinguish between anxiety as a symptom, such as worry, and an actual anxiety disorder, she noted.
Medical professionals, including doctors and mental health therapists, can help people know how serious their individual situation really is. “It could be the number of symptoms, the severity and impact on their life, and also the length of time they are struggling” that helps professionals differentiate and diagnose, Gold said.
How Employers Can Help
Forward-thinking employers understand the importance of supporting work-life balance to mitigate the effects of increased workplace anxiety, Pokk said. This often looks like encouraging workers to take time off when needed, flex their hours or work from home when possible.
Employers can also support workers in taking a break to go to the gym, offer stipends related to wellness and provide social opportunities for employees to connect as a way to combat isolation, Pokk added.
Although anxiety rates continue to climb, mental health treatment has not. According to the APA poll, 1 in 4 adults claim to have reached out for support from a mental health professional in the past year. This is particularly true with older adults, as the APA stated young adults ages 18 to 34 are more than twice as likely to seek help than older adults over 50.
Employers have an opportunity to bridge this gap by providing a robust benefits package that includes mental health benefits through the organization’s health insurance, as well as an employee assistance program (EAP), which may allow employees to access a set number of free therapy sessions.
Still, some adults may resist treatment, even when it’s free and easily accessible. According to Pokk, employers should encourage workers to seek treatment if stress or anxiety seem to be impacting their well-being and/or work performance.
Gold agreed, stating, “People should seek out professional help as needed and know it is a strength to ask for help.”
By taking a proactive approach to employee mental health, Gold said employers can reduce the effects of anxiety on productivity and performance, reduce burnout, and ultimately increase the organization’s bottom line.
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