On this episode of The Federalist Radio Hour, Sarah Robinson, author of “I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die,” joins Culture Editor Emily Jashinsky to discuss how the decline of community and COVID lockdowns has affected Americans’ mental health and how to navigate it.
“We do know for many factors, isolation being a big one but for other factors as well as, you know, economic uncertainty, just the massive grief of so many people losing loved ones, fear of being sick or your loved ones being sick, there have been so many things this last year that have increased our stress and increased our isolation,” Robinson said.
Robinson explained that even though initial reports have shown suicide rates in decline, depression and anxiety are on the rise.
“Fourty-two percent of American adults experience clinically significant symptoms of depression and anxiety, as opposed to in 2019, that same month, it was 19 percent. So more than doubled in the year during the pandemic, and we can absolutely see why,” she said.
Robinson said while it can be daunting to face mental health challenges, interpersonal and empathetic relationships can be key to mending and healing.
“Relationships are, are so key,” she concluded. “There’s just something so healing and so redemptive about somebody walking with you, about somebody who sees you, who knows you, and who cares about you.”
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