Americans have developed an entire vocabulary around managing stress. There are wellness programs, mindfulness apps, self-care routines and endless advice about finding balance. Yet a new national survey suggests many people have stopped expecting stress to go away at all.
According to the American Psychological Association's Stress in America 2026 report, released October 22, 72% of U.S. adults agree that stress is simply something they have to live with. Another 68% say they have become accustomed to uncertainty, while 72% report that bad news no longer shocks them the way it once did.
The pressures are substantial. Seventy-seven percent identified the cost of living as a significant source of stress, while 74% cited concern about the nation's future. But the more revealing findings concern what Americans are doing in response.
Fifty-nine percent said they feel they are doing everything right but still falling behind. More than half, 56%, reported lowering their expectations for what they can achieve in life. Another 26% said they had put their futures on hold during the previous year.
This goes beyond feeling overwhelmed. People are reconsidering what they believe is possible.
The consequences are also showing up in community life. Nearly half of respondents, 47%, said they had withdrawn from at least one form of social participation because of stress, uncertainty or feeling overwhelmed. Twenty-eight percent avoided the news, while 21% avoided engagement with political or societal issues. 1
Perhaps the most telling contradiction is that 51% felt too emotionally drained to remain engaged with everything happening around them, yet 63% still believed participating in their communities or societal issues could meaningfully improve their futures.
People haven't necessarily stopped caring. They may simply be running out of energy to participate.
That distinction matters in communities throughout New Jersey, where neighborhood organizations, school activities, volunteer programs and local events depend on residents having the time and emotional capacity to get involved. A community can have plenty of people who want to participate while struggling to find enough who feel able to do so.
The research also identifies an emerging alternative source of support: artificial intelligence. Among respondents who had used AI, 49% reported having conversations with it as a friend, while 47% had used it in a role comparable to a mental health professional. One in ten AI users said they relied on AI more than friends and family for advice.
Those findings do not establish that stress causes people to turn to AI, or that AI is replacing personal relationships. They do, however, reveal how technology is entering conversations traditionally associated with friends, family and professional support. The APA cautions that accessibility should not be confused with clinical expertise.
The survey was conducted online by The Harris Poll among 3,132 U.S. adults from July 29 through August 24, 2026. Its findings reflect self-reported experiences and attitudes rather than clinical assessments or proof of cause and effect.
The larger cultural question is whether Americans are becoming better at managing stress or simply becoming accustomed to living with more of it.
There is a meaningful difference between resilience and resignation. One helps people continue pursuing the lives they want. The other can quietly persuade them to want less.
And when a majority of Americans report lowering their expectations while believing they're doing everything right, that distinction deserves considerably more attention.
SOURCE REFERENCES
American Psychological Association. Stress in America 2026: The Stress of Uncertainty. October 22, 2026. https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/stress-in-america/2026
American Psychological Association. Amid Cost-of-Living Worries and Concern for the Nation's Future, Stress Is Reshaping Americans' Lives. October 22, 2026. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2026/10/stress-reshaping-lives
Survey findings attributed to the American Psychological Association materials cited in SOURCE REFERENCES. Cultural framing is RMN's.