And sometimes the reason you don’t feel fine end up being anxiety, and reframing your experience can make the problem go away. I visited the emergency room with chest pains several times before it actually sunk in that it was my neuroticism getting the better of me

In the US, look at how sentiments about the economy shift depending on party affiliation and who happens to be in power at the time. I do not think it’s as straightforward as saying ”if people think things are worse than they used to be, they definitely are”. There are way too many variables affecting people’s subjective experience