Notes on Coronavirus: How is America Feeling? Part 6.
Six weeks into sharing the trends we’re seeing in the USA… First, a bit of news about Crisis Text Line itself…
** Our Crisis Counselors are the best people. Holy cow. These numbers are inspiring…
– Applications to volunteer are still increasing. Last week was our most applications ever with 2,483 applications submitted (11x our weekly average in Feb.)
– In the last week, Asian Americans made up 28% of submitted applications, compared to 24% earlier during COVID, and 11% pre-COVID. Incredible that a community feeling acute pain is rallying to help others.
– Top occupation of our volunteer applications? “Medical/Healthcare” is 22% of applications, compared to 17% last time. WHAT?!! Hooray for these heroes!
** Volume is still high but has plateaued. And, we’re reaching 87% of all texters in under 5 minutes. We can handle more! Please post about us in social media, give us ad inventory, ask your church/school/company to send out an email letting people know they’re not alone, etc. We got you, America!!
** We launched a GoFundMe today with our partners in Canada, Ireland, and UK. Please consider supporting us.
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Three weeks ago: 89%
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Two weeks ago: 94%
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Last 7 days: 96%
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Last week, 19% of texters reported being an essential worker.
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For all texters, almost half (47%) say they or an immediate family member is an essential worker.
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For our youngest texters (U13), 38% of them have a parent who is an essential worker.
To highlight one group: Emergency Services (EMTs, Police, Fire). They are more worried about other people than themselves.
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92% are experiencing stress related to coronavirus, compared to 84% for all texters
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35% are distressed about potentially contracting COVID themselves (less than the average for all texters at 39%); 65% are worried about their loved ones contracting COVID
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90% feel lonely or isolated (They need our gratitude!! Keep clapping and singing!!)
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31% express difficulty caring for loved ones, compared to 25% of all texters
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In the last week, % of texters by race/ethnicity:
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Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin: 20% (Typically 17%)
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Black or African American: 11% (Typically 11%)
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Asian: 7% (Typically 5%)
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Insights
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20% of Asian texters mention having recent experiences of racism and/or discrimination (more than 3x the average texter)
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46% of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin texters mention current financial issues
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14% of Black / African American Texters mention having a recent loss of a loved one, almost twice as high as the average texter (8%).
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At the start of the COVID crises (mid-March), “job” + “laid off” made up 15% of conversations. In the last week, they’ve appeared in 18% of conversations. (Thats almost 1 in 5 conversations about financial issues–the same frequency we see for mentions of Covid/virus.)
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% of texters who respond to “what’s your employment status” with “out of work”
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Last week: 12.5%
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This week: 14.2%
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6. Something inspiring? American resilience
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Insight: Amidst COVID and quarantines, nearly half (48%) of texters have increased one or more forms of resilience: increasing self-care, reconnecting with loved ones, or finding ways to help out those they care about.
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A majority have turned to therapy and crisis support more. (And more than any other category we asked about.)
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34% of texters say they are spending more time helping friends and family than they normally do (this is a time to rely on and support loved ones!)
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32% of texters say they are reconnecting with friends and family they haven’t been in touch with for a while
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~⅓ are feeling more grateful and being kinder with themselves.
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