Siena poll: 5 years after pandemic, 51% of NYers say they feel more isolated, alone
Shoppers wear masks as they wait on line outside Trader Joe’s in Westbury on April 27, 2020. A Siena College poll has found that five years after COVID-19 hit, a majority of New Yorkers say they feel more isolated than ever. Credit: Howard Schnapp
ALBANY — Five years after COVID-19 hit, a majority of New Yorkers say they feel more isolated than ever, according to a poll released Wednesday.
The Siena College poll found also 43% of those surveyed try to act as if the pandemic never happened and try never to talk about it.
Those were numbers higher than expected and reflects a "collective trauma" that probably still is ongoing, Siena pollster Don Levy told Newsday in an interview Tuesday.
"I was surprised by that — that it was so high," Levy said about so many New Yorkers expressing feelings about still feeling isolated. "I did not believe we would see 51% and I did not believe we would see it so high (63%) with young people."
It was one of many results Siena found in a survey taking the pulse of the state five years after the worldwide pandemic began.
Collectively, New Yorkers expressed lingering anger (57%) about the pandemic and a lack of confidence in the federal government (50%-45%) to handle another health emergency. Most (67%) knew someone who had died and almost half (45%) said they experienced financial hardship during the pandemic.
Conversely, two-thirds say a silver lining from the pandemic was that it helped them focus more on family and friends, and a plurality (48%) said they found a better work-life balance.
Levy said responses to the isolation question particularly were striking and could be linked to other impacts highlighted in the survey.
In the survey, 51% overall said they agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: "COVID resulted in me feeling more isolated and alone than I have ever felt before."
About 46% disagreed with the statement.
Among New Yorkers 18 to 34 years old, 63% said they felt isolated and alone.
"This was a collective trauma that we all went through and each of us went through it differently," Levy said. "To get to a point where half are saying they feel more isolated and lonely than ever, it is truly an expression of collective trauma that goes through to today. This one question in the survey is one indication it may have changed us."
The New York response is perhaps a reflection of national surveys that have found an association between COVID isolation and depression.
And though it wasn’t a majority, 43% told Siena they agreed with the statement: "To be honest, I no longer want to talk about or think about COVID. I try to act like it never happened."
About 51% didn’t agree with that statement.
"I don’t think life is back to the same," Levy said. "It changed us in ways that we don’t completely understand yet."
Yet, on what might be called a "bright side," 41% said they started a new hobby during the pandemic, 32% started some type of self-improvement program and 20% acquired a new pet — which Levy is "a lotta people." He called the "phenomenon" understandable.
"If you suddenly were working from dining room and not going out and wearing a mask and not having normal interactions," Levy said, "they went out and bought a Peloton (exercise bike) and a shih tzu."
Clinical psychologist Christopher Fisher, who has a practice in Rockville Centre and is director of behavioral health at Northwell Health, said: "It’s actually surprising that only 51% of people reported feeling more isolated. Frankly, I expected that number to be higher. In 2020, the world was forced to drastically shift how we live and interact. While this disruption was both a challenge and a catalyst for innovation, it reshaped the very systems we rely on.
"Remote work, asynchronous learning and physical distancing were quickly normalized as tools to help us meet our responsibilities while staying safe. However, these systems also made it easier, and in some cases more comfortable, to remain distant from others," Fisher said.
"Just as it was difficult to adapt at the onset of the pandemic, it will be just as challenging to re-engage and reconnect in its aftermath," he added.
Siena's poll was conducted March 17-24, among 1,236 state residents who were contacted through landline and mobile phones or through an online panel. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, meaning the answer to any one question can vary that much.
With Lisa L. Colangelo
ALBANY — Five years after COVID-19 hit, a majority of New Yorkers say they feel more isolated than ever, according to a poll released Wednesday.
The Siena College poll found also 43% of those surveyed try to act as if the pandemic never happened and try never to talk about it.
Those were numbers higher than expected and reflects a "collective trauma" that probably still is ongoing, Siena pollster Don Levy told Newsday in an interview Tuesday.
"I was surprised by that — that it was so high," Levy said about so many New Yorkers expressing feelings about still feeling isolated. "I did not believe we would see 51% and I did not believe we would see it so high (63%) with young people."
It was one of many results Siena found in a survey taking the pulse of the state five years after the worldwide pandemic began.
Collectively, New Yorkers expressed lingering anger (57%) about the pandemic and a lack of confidence in the federal government (50%-45%) to handle another health emergency. Most (67%) knew someone who had died and almost half (45%) said they experienced financial hardship during the pandemic.
Conversely, two-thirds say a silver lining from the pandemic was that it helped them focus more on family and friends, and a plurality (48%) said they found a better work-life balance.
Levy said responses to the isolation question particularly were striking and could be linked to other impacts highlighted in the survey.
In the survey, 51% overall said they agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: "COVID resulted in me feeling more isolated and alone than I have ever felt before."
About 46% disagreed with the statement.
Among New Yorkers 18 to 34 years old, 63% said they felt isolated and alone.
"This was a collective trauma that we all went through and each of us went through it differently," Levy said. "To get to a point where half are saying they feel more isolated and lonely than ever, it is truly an expression of collective trauma that goes through to today. This one question in the survey is one indication it may have changed us."
The New York response is perhaps a reflection of national surveys that have found an association between COVID isolation and depression.
And though it wasn’t a majority, 43% told Siena they agreed with the statement: "To be honest, I no longer want to talk about or think about COVID. I try to act like it never happened."
About 51% didn’t agree with that statement.
"I don’t think life is back to the same," Levy said. "It changed us in ways that we don’t completely understand yet."
Yet, on what might be called a "bright side," 41% said they started a new hobby during the pandemic, 32% started some type of self-improvement program and 20% acquired a new pet — which Levy is "a lotta people." He called the "phenomenon" understandable.
"If you suddenly were working from dining room and not going out and wearing a mask and not having normal interactions," Levy said, "they went out and bought a Peloton (exercise bike) and a shih tzu."
Clinical psychologist Christopher Fisher, who has a practice in Rockville Centre and is director of behavioral health at Northwell Health, said: "It’s actually surprising that only 51% of people reported feeling more isolated. Frankly, I expected that number to be higher. In 2020, the world was forced to drastically shift how we live and interact. While this disruption was both a challenge and a catalyst for innovation, it reshaped the very systems we rely on.
"Remote work, asynchronous learning and physical distancing were quickly normalized as tools to help us meet our responsibilities while staying safe. However, these systems also made it easier, and in some cases more comfortable, to remain distant from others," Fisher said.
"Just as it was difficult to adapt at the onset of the pandemic, it will be just as challenging to re-engage and reconnect in its aftermath," he added.
Siena's poll was conducted March 17-24, among 1,236 state residents who were contacted through landline and mobile phones or through an online panel. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, meaning the answer to any one question can vary that much.
With Lisa L. Colangelo
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