What Elmo and His Human Friends Learned by Asking Americans About Their Mental Health

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

“The world is burning, Elmo,” an X user named Not the Bee told the usually cheerful “Sesame Street” character. “No amount of tickling 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 lengthy post. “The gap is widening, as H.G. Wells put it, between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots.’”

And those were just two of the more than 20,000 responses.

Christina Vittas, Elmo’s social media manager, was overwhelmed by the unexpected outpouring of responses, telling The Times she was grateful that the Muppet’s simple question “sparked conversations about the serious mental health crisis in our country.”

Six months later, Elmo’s creators at Sesame Workshop teamed up with the Harris Poll to conduct a more in-depth study of Americans’ mental health. They conducted online interviews on a range of topics with a nationally representative sample of Americans ages 16 and older in May 2012.

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

• 27% of respondents said their mental or emotional health, or that of someone in their family, was negatively impacting their well-being. That was essentially equal to the 28% who were negatively impacted by a physical health issue. The only issue that took a greater toll on survey participants was economic security and personal finances, a concern cited by 41%.
• Mental and emotional health posed a particular burden for teens, with 54% of 16- and 17-year-olds who completed the survey saying that psychological problems had a negative impact on their overall well-being. The same was true for 32% of parents and 41% of people who identified as LGBTQ+.
• When asked about their biggest concerns for their future well-being, 90% cited the mental and emotional health of themselves and their family as somewhat or very important. By comparison, 89% said the same about physical health, economic security and personal finances, and having “a safe place to call home.”
• Seventy-seven percent of people told pollsters that the U.S. should prioritize investments in emotional and mental health to improve the well-being of future generations. That was just shy of the 80 percent who called for more investment in economic security and slightly more than the 76 percent who said the country should prioritize quality education and learning opportunities.
• 44% of all respondents said their families were “still experiencing negative effects from the COVID19 pandemic.” That includes 57% of Black Americans and 56% of Hispanic Americans who completed the survey. It also includes 63% of respondents who are Gen Z (ages 18-27) and 57% of those who are Millennials (ages 28-43).
• When given a list of adjectives to describe the average American adult, only 37% chose “kind,” 35% chose “compassionate,” and 33% chose “empathetic.” However, 56% said this hypothetical adult was “anxious,” and 44% said they were “difficult.”
• The research found overwhelming support for the idea that kindness is essential to the well-being of society, with a whopping 91% of people agreeing that “kindness fosters stronger bonds between people,” making them more empathetic and helpful.
• 82% of respondents said their own mental well-being would improve if there was more kindness. 89% said a kinder society would be better for children.
• 93% of respondents said they had done something kind at least once in the past three months. Specifically, 57% said they helped a friend or family member in need, 57% said they listened to someone else in a nonjudgmental way, 39% donated money to charity, 35% helped a stranger, and 22% volunteered to support a cause, among other activities.
• Despite this outburst of kindness, most people said they didn’t see much of the same in others, with 55% of respondents agreeing that “being kind isn’t a priority for most people.” Additionally, 64% agreed that “most people don’t go out of their way to help others.”
• 73% of Americans said they wished they had learned more about how to manage their emotions when they were kids. And 84% of parents did, too.
• 67% of Americans also wish their parents had been more transparent about their own mental health struggles. That was especially true for younger Americans, with 77% of teens, 77% of Gen Zers, and 78% of millennials sharing that sentiment.

Sesame Workshop described the report as “a unique index” and said it will continue to monitor Americans “to keep our finger on the pulse of the well-being of Americans and their families.”

2024 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.