What Elmo learned by asking Americans about their mental health

Remember when Elmo went viral in January by asking folks on the internet how they were doing and briefly became the unofficial therapist of X?

“The world is burning, Elmo,” an X user who goes by Not the Bee told the usually upbeat “Sesame Street” character. “No amount of tickles can fix this.”

“This world is full of pain, anger, violence, disease, power grabbing despots and poverty,” a user with the handle LiveLifeLikeSomeoneLeftTheGateOpen added in a long post. “The chasm is widening as HG Wells put it, between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots.’”

And those were just two of the 20,000-plus replies.

Christina Vittas, Elmo’s social media manager, was bowled over by the unexpected outpouring and said that she was thankful that the Muppet’s simple question “opened up conversations about the serious mental health crisis in our country.”

Six months later, Elmo’s creators at Sesame Workshop have collaborated with The Harris Poll to conduct a more thorough check-in on the state of Americans’ mental health. They conducted 2,012 online interviews in May on an array of topics with a nationally representative sample of Americans 16 and older.

The resulting State of Well-Being Report was released this past week. Among the findings:

■ 27 percent of respondents said their mental or emotional health, or that of someone in their family, was negatively affecting their well-being. That was essentially tied with the 28 percent who were negatively affected by a problem with physical health. The only issue taking a greater toll on survey participants was economic security and personal finances, a worry reported by 41 percent.

■ Mental and emotional health were a particular burden on teens, with 54 percent of the 16- and 17-year-olds who took the survey saying that the psychological issues had a negative impact on their overall well-being. So did 32 percent of parents and 41 percent of people who identified as LGBTQ+.

■ When asked about their top concerns for their future well-being, 90 percent cited their and their family’s mental and emotional health as either somewhat or very important. For the sake of comparison, 89 percent said the same about physical health, economic security and personal finances, and having “a safe place to call home.”

■ 77 percent of people told pollsters that to improve the well-being of future generations, the U.S. should prioritize investments in emotional and mental health. That was only slightly less than the 80 percent who called for more investments in economic security and slightly more than the 76 percent who said the country should prioritize high-quality education and learning opportunities.

■ 44 percent of all respondents said their families were “still experiencing negative effects from the COVID-19 pandemic.” That includes 57 percent of Black Americans and 56 percent of Latino Americans who took the survey. It also includes 63 percent of respondents who are members of Gen Z (ages 18 to 27) and 57 percent of those who are millennials (ages 28 to 43).

■ When presented with a list of adjectives to describe the average American adult, only 37 percent selected “kind,” 35 percent selected “compassionate” and 33 percent selected “empathetic.” However, 56 percent said this hypothetical adult was “anxious” and 44 percent said they were “difficult.”

■ The survey found overwhelming support for the notion that kindness is essential to the well-being of society. Fully 91 percent of people agreed that “kindness fosters stronger bonds between people,” making them more empathetic and supportive.

■ 82 percent of respondents said their own mental well-being would improve if kindness were more common, and 89 percent said a kinder society would be better for children.

■ 93 percent of those surveyed said they had committed at least one act of kindness in the past three months. More specifically, 57 percent said they had helped a friend or family member in need, 57 percent said they listened to someone else in a nonjudgmental way, 39 percent gave money to charity, 35 percent helped a stranger and 22 percent volunteered their time in support of a cause, among other activities.

■ Despite this outpouring of kindness, most people said they didn’t see much of the same in others, with 55 percent of respondents agreeing that “being kind is not a priority to most people.” In addition, 64 percent agreed that “most people don’t go out of their way to help others.”

■ 73 percent of Americans said they wished they had learned more about how to manage their emotions when they were children. So did 84 percent of those who are parents.

■ 67 percent of Americans also wish their parents had been more transparent about their own struggles with mental health. That was particularly true for younger Americans, with 77 percent of teens, 77 percent of Gen Zers and 78 percent of millennials sharing that sentiment.

Sesame Workshop described the report as “a first-of-its-kind index” and said it will continue to check in with Americans “to keep a pulse on the well-being of Americans and their families.”