The pandemic has had an immense impact on relationships with health and medicine and how we live our daily lives and our habits. This project focuses on explaining the relationship between different occupations and mental health during the pandemic.

Mental health is at times not focused on during times where our physical health is in jeopardy. Using data collected by the CDC on mental health, substance use, and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic, I wanted to present this information in a way that compares the mental health effects of the pandemic on people in different occupations. Fear, stress and anxiety are clear side effects of pandemic living. Looking at workers during this time shows elevated levels of adverse mental health conditions. The design of this infographic evolved frequently due to the need to provide contextualized and objective data around information concerning the pandemic. Using color and scale, it was important to present the sample size of each type of worker (essential, nonessential, retired, unemployed) and the percent of each sample size that felt the mental health effect.

The infographic not only presents the impact the pandemic has had on mental health in the workforce but provides it in a way that is contextual and aims to not dramatize the data. Data can be used and leveraged to persuade people and convince people of an idea. At times, how we present that information can be misleading, but by providing transparency and information to the viewer, like sample sizes of groups and how and when data was collected, we can give more power to the viewer to come to their own conclusion. By showing the variation in sample sizes compared to the percentage that felt a change in their mental health, this infographic provides the viewer with unbiased information in a digestible format.