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It’s hardly a surprise that we are, as a nation,worrying about the future. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has hit us hard, affecting everything from mental health to finances. It’s completely natural to wonder, “What’s going to happen next?”

According to Verywell Mind’s latest Mental Health Tracker survey, 40% of Americans say they have worried about the future multiple times a week over the last month. And 36% say they’re currently more worried about the future than they normally would be.

During times of uncertainty, people often feel anxious. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed so many questions about the future of work, the state of theeconomy, and ongoing health risks. All that uncertainty makes it difficult to plan—and we’re realizing that the plans we do make may not work if things change.

Younger Americans Worry the Most

Nearly half of Americans (48%) feel they worry about the future more than their grandparents did at their current age. By comparison, 31% say they worry about the same amount and 21% say they worry less than their grandparents did.

Most Americans are worried about the near-term future, with 60% saying they’re most worried about the next 5 years, and the next 1-3 years in particular.

Dealing With the Stress of a Financial Crisis

Different Age Groups, Different Concerns

The biggest age skew for future concerns was political instability. 34% of the Gen X generation are worried about political instability, and it’s an even bigger concern for Boomers (49%) and the Silent Generation (54%).

The older generations who have seen political instability in the past are likely concerned about our divided country. They may be seeing how families are fighting and friendships are ending across generations. Large-scale changes in the status quo— especially as public opinion grows increasingly progressive—can also be particularly intense for older individuals.

Americans Are Stressed About Politics

Tackling Worries About the Future

Gen Z and millennials are most worried about negatively impacting the future of the world (32% and 29%, respectively).

Younger people likely have less money and fewer resources to create the change they want to make. They might find they can’t address the environmental issues they want because they don’t have time or money. They may also worry that they have to take certain jobs out of necessity as opposed to taking the jobs that they think would really make a difference.

Still, lots of us aren’t giving up hope of brighter days ahead. While 34% of Americans say they’re fearful about the future of the world, 47% of Americans express more feelings of hope than fear about the world’s future. Millennials are most hopeful about the future (59%), with Gen X at 44% and Gen Z and Boomers tied at 41%.

Coping With Anticipatory Anxiety

How to Stop Worrying About the Future

It’s reassuring to know that 65% of Americans believe it’s important for them to take care of their mental health. Our survey found that almost as many (61%) say they’ve taken steps to take care of their mental health at least once a week over the last month. Still, we can always do better—only 43% think they’re doing a good job oftaking care of their mental health, and 15% say they’re not doing a good job at all.

Taking steps to stop worrying about the future can help you feel in control of your mental health in general. But that doesn’t mean a total embargo on worrying or beating yourself up if you do find yourself panicking about what the future holds.

In fact, the opposite approach is likely to be more productive. So make time in your schedule to worry. Set aside 15 minutes every day to worry about anything you want, and when you find yourself worrying outside of that prescribed time, remind yourself it’s not time to worry yet. With practice, you can learn to contain unproductive worrying to just 15 minutes of your day.

How to Reduce Stress With Breathing Exercises

At the same time, learn how to differentiate between worrying andproblem-solving. It’s helpful to work toward a goal so if you’re thinking about how to overcome an obstacle or how to manage your situation, keep thinking. But if you find yourself replaying unpleasant events in your mind over and over again or you worry about things outside of your control, that’s not unproductive. Distract yourself with a healthy activity, like listening to positive music or going for a walk, to change the channel in your brain.

Instead of denying how you’re feeling, acknowledge it—whether you’d call your emotion anxiety or refer to it as sadness, giving that worry a name can help your brain make sense of what’s going on. And when you are in those real moments of worry, practice relaxation exercises.Deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, andmindfulnesscan calm your body and your brain.

Finally, focus on what you can control. Whether you establish a clear routine to stick to or you work on organizing your house, focusing on things you can control will help you manage your emotions when there are things outside of your control.

MethodologyThe Verywell Mind Mental Health Tracker is a monthly measurement of Americans’ attitudes and behaviors around their mental health. The survey is fielded online, beginning April 28, 2021, to 4,000 adults living in the U.S. The total sample matches U.S. Census estimates for age, gender, race/ethnicity, and region.

Methodology

The Verywell Mind Mental Health Tracker is a monthly measurement of Americans’ attitudes and behaviors around their mental health. The survey is fielded online, beginning April 28, 2021, to 4,000 adults living in the U.S. The total sample matches U.S. Census estimates for age, gender, race/ethnicity, and region.

Most Americans Struggle With Their Feelings Towards the United States

1 SourceVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.CNBC News.Millennials Own Less Than 5% of all U.S. Wealth.

1 Source

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.CNBC News.Millennials Own Less Than 5% of all U.S. Wealth.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

CNBC News.Millennials Own Less Than 5% of all U.S. Wealth.

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