CINCINNATI (WKRC) – A new report says we’re struggling to stay on the happy side of life these days.

Yet another survey says this COVID-19 pandemic is messing with our mental health. This poll actually found we are less happy than we have been in 50 years.

Researchers found less than 1 in 5 of us say we’re happy. That’s down from 1 in 3 in 2018. Half of us say we mainly just feel very isolated.

This all comes from researchers with the COVID Response Tracking study, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. About twice as many of us report being lonely compared to 2018.

We also have a big drop in satisfaction in our social lives and our relationships. Compared to 2018, we’re twice as likely to say we’ve felt a lack of companionship and that we feel left out as well.

If this sounds like you, a safe place to start talking about it is with your own doctor. You can go see them in person now, and you shouldn’t let the feat of catching the virus stop you from going into the doctor’s office.

“We do need some face-to-face contact with our patients at times,” said Dr. Stephen Cleves, an internal medicine specialist at TriHealth. “This is a safe environment as you’re going to find from a risk perspective.”

A few other interesting notes from this survey: Even in good years, only about 1 in 3 of us actually call ourselves “happy.” When compared to other tragic times like the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, we do have different reactions to this pandemic.

The survey found we’re less likely to be smoking or crying and more likely to report losing our tempers and getting drunk.