Mental Health on the Decline....

I only have a quick minute but I thought this was important! I just read an article on USA Today online, which stated some statistics from a national mental health poll. The survey, it says, is done almost every day. Here are some of the highlights from the poll's results, as reported by USA Today:

•Stress shot up over 2008, peaking in the fall and winter as the economic crisis deepened, then continuing high through February. The 10 least happy days of 2008 all were in the last quarter.
•Emotional well-being overall dropped, too, driven largely by declines in mental health for the poorest people.
•Americans' moods were ultra-sensitive to economic news. Well-being plunged on days when the Dow lost big and with reports of high jobless claims.
•A state's EHI (Emotional Health Index) correlated with high rates of death from ailments such as heart disease, says Gallup analyst Raksha Arora. States with a lot of open space or sunshine — Hawaii, Alaska, Wyoming — had some of the best emotional health even as the economy sank. Many poorer and Rust Belt states — West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky — were worst off.

I see many women who are unemployed at the moment, or who's partner has recently lost a job...I know how the economy and worries over financial stress are affecting our well-being. These findings do not surprise me at all...So, know that you are not alone, and that we're all in this together. We'll find our way through! And, supportive therapy can really assist these feelings. Seek solace in each other, know that your fellow humans are also suffering and that the only constant is that this, too, will change!