http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.pngAmerica’s mayors are most concerned about the lingering mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a nationwide survey of 126 mayors conducted during the summer of 2021.
The respondents headed cities with at least 75,000 residents. The local leaders are still focused on traditional issues such as violent crime, the economy and infrastructure, but they are most concerned about the pandemic’s long-term impact on the mental health of their constituents.
Mental health was top of mind for Michael Udine when he was sworn in as mayor of Broward County, Florida, in November 2021.
“Everything that was a potential issue pre-pandemic has pretty much been exacerbated by the pandemic,” he says. “There were issues going into the pandemic, and it was becoming more and more important on everyone’s radar screen about the mental health of people of all ages. And I think the pandemic pretty much supercharged those issues.”
It is not unusual for large outbreaks of disease to have a negative impact on mental health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reports that rates of anxiety and depressive disorders among adults increased during the pandemic.
The pandemic has also adversely influenced the emotional and mental health of about one-third of America’s youth.
“What we’ve seen is just such anxiety, kids who wouldn’t ordinarily have a meltdown, because it’s so much change and difficulty adjusting to transitions,” Maryland psychologist Mary Karapetian Alvord told VOA last month. “We’ve also seen a lot more sadness and depression.”
Early on in the pandemic, mayors were more focused on city operations, budget shortfalls and the threat the pandemic posed to small businesses, according to David Glick, an associate professor of political science at Boston University and a co-author of the 2021 Menino Survey of Mayors.