Americans feel – Stress, loneliness and existential worry are rising for many Americans as Donald Trump returns to power, with a new Stress in America survey and polling suggesting widespread strain—especially among younger adults and people targeted by Trump and his MAGA coal
Fannie Lou Hamer’s words in December 1964 still land like a bruise: “I’ve been tired so long. ” she said. “now I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Back then. she was speaking about injustice and political exclusion in a church in Harlem alongside Malcolm X. More than 60 years later, many Americans say they feel something similar—only the details have changed.
A recent Stress in America survey from the American Psychological Association found that more than half of American adults report feeling stressed. isolated and lonely. The survey also put numbers to how heavy the mood is: 62% of adults cited societal division as a deep source of anxiety. and 75% said the future of the country weighs on them. The strain isn’t evenly distributed. Younger adults are reporting a more “profound” toll. with nearly two-thirds of those ages 18–34 (63%) and more than half of parents (53%) saying they have considered relocating to another country due to the state of the nation.
The year’s emotional tone, too, is showing up in public language. A recent Talker Research poll found that the most popular word to describe 2026 so far is “stressful. ” followed by “challenging.” Nearly a third of Americans are experiencing a profound existential crisis and other challenges that have forced them to rethink the year ahead. Money, careers and the economy also sit high on the list of what people worry about.
For many Americans, that stress is not abstract. Members of groups targeted by Donald Trump and his MAGA coalition—including Hispanics. Latinos and other non-whites. as well as LGBTQ people and women—are experiencing high levels of individual and collective stress from the administration’s policies. Black women. in particular. are experiencing disproportionate job loss as the administration guts the federal workforce in its purges against diversity. equity and inclusion initiatives. Republican cuts to healthcare. disease prevention and the social safety net are creating widespread insecurity and anxiety that many experts say will shorten the lives of the American people.
The picture that emerges is one of a nation running on exhaustion while trying to process what it knows is happening. People feel emotionally unwell and worn down because they believe something is deeply wrong with society and politics. Their sense of normalcy, the account here suggests, has been broken.
There is a political contradiction at the center of that emotional landscape. Polls show that Trump’s support is collapsing among the American people as a whole. but the president still retains a near-iron grip on the GOP. with MAGA diehards generally unmoved and supporting him at levels at or above 90% depending on the issue. The result. the argument goes. is a feedback loop: as popularity collapses. collective stress and emotional distress deepen. and that fear can feed social dominance behavior—directed toward marginalized groups identified as enemies.
The strain is being discussed in terms that go beyond daily nerves. The piece frames the United States as more fully a pathocracy—a form of government where a small number of psychologically disordered people seize control of society. It argues that charisma and strongman appeal can draw otherwise normal people toward leaders who promise easy solutions to complex problems. and that once in power. such authoritarian populists almost always make things worse. In the description offered. the pathological character of the leader spreads through the general population like a disease. while the pathocrat and their inner circle work to plunder the country and retain unlimited power.
Those forces. it says. are showing up as “political depression”—a sense. as Ann Cvetkovich explains in her book “Depression: A Public Feeling. ” that “customary forms of political response . . . are no longer working either to change the world or to make us feel better.” The despair and hopelessness described here are tied to feeling powerless in the face of injustice. watching long-standing norms be routinely broken.
The article points to democratic backsliding abroad as a warning sign: as seen in Turkey. Hungary and other countries that have experienced democratic backsliding. it says physical and emotional health of the population deteriorates under autocracy. It adds that autocracy literally makes people sick. But it also stresses a limit to the damage: once a healthy democracy is restored. it says the public’s health can recover.
The response being urged is not a retreat. Pro-democracy Americans. the piece argues. need to learn and enact what it calls political grit—an antidote to despair that combines practical. spiritual and emotional approaches to political action. Grit, it says, must be calm, reflective and grounded in shared responsibility and a commitment to reason and the truth. The goal described is a more just present and future. with the work expected to be long and difficult and requiring collective action and political engagement.
Still, the mood is not portrayed as universally hopeless. The APA’s report shows that despite political headwinds. the vast majority of Americans—an astonishing 84%—remain resilient and believe they can have a good life in the future. Freedom, opportunity and hope still describe America for significant numbers of respondents. What they don’t need. the argument continues. is “hope on the cheap”—hope that demands no hard work and sacrifice. Instead. the piece says. Americans need a leader who offers a vision and plan for improving democracy and society. then provides marching orders and tools for people to begin doing the work in their own lives and communities.
United States politics Donald Trump MAGA stress survey American Psychological Association Stress in America loneliness existential crisis political depression diversity equity inclusion federal workforce purges healthcare cuts social safety net democratic backsliding political grit