Remote work is taking its toll on the mental health of American workers, researchers find

June 5, 2026 report Remote work is taking its toll on the mental health of American workers, researchers find Paul Arnold Author Lisa Lock Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor Working from home comes with some major pluses. It's more flexible, there's no more pesky commute, work-life balance improves, and you can even stay in your pajamas all day if you want. But according to a major study of more than 580,000 American workers published in Science, remote work is taking its toll on people's mental health. Emma Zang and Rourke O'Brien of the Department of Sociology at Yale University discuss the findings in an accompanying Perspective piece in the same edition of the journal. Rise of the home office Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people working from home has increased. It's viewed as a highly desirable working arrangement, and currently, about 1 in 4 Americans take advantage of it. However, previous research into the trend has revealed a major contradiction. While remote workers have reported higher job satisfaction, some studies have also found higher rates of anxiety and depression among remote and hybrid workers. To get a clearer picture, researchers in the U.S. analyzed five studies of American workers conducted between 2011 and 2024. They compared people in remote-friendly careers, such as marketing and software engineering, with those whose jobs require them to show up in person, such as nursing and mechanical engineering. In particular, they concentrated on factors such as daily hours spent alone, days with zero human contact, and prescriptions for depression and anxiety. After controlling for confounding factors such as occupational exposure to artificial intelligence and individual differences in mental distress, the team found clear evidence of a negative impact, as they write in their paper. "Remote work substantially increases isolation and worsens mental health, particularly for those living alone." According to their findings, workers in occupations that became much more remote after the pandemic spend an average of 1.1 additional waking hours alone each workday compared to workers in less remote occupations. They are also four times more likely to remain at home the entire day. Remote workers also experience an increase in the number of days with no human contact. Mental health toll The toll this takes on mental health is significant. Overall, remote work may account for approximately one-third of the increase in mental distress in the U.S. observed between the pre-pandemic period (2011–2019) and post-pandemic period (2022–2024). Workers in remote jobs were more likely to visit a mental health professional and there was a roughly 50% increase in prescriptions filled for depression and anxiety medications compared to pre-pandemic levels. And these pitfalls may be ones people are not initially aware of. "Our findings suggest that workers may not realize the costs of remote work for their well-being, which may take time to accumulate," add the study authors. Written for you by our author Paul Arnold, edited by Lisa Lock, and fact-checked and reviewed by Robert Egan—this article is the result of careful human work. We rely on readers like you to keep independent science journalism alive. If this reporting matters to you, please consider a donation (especially monthly). You'll get an ad-free account as a thank-you. Publication details Natalia Emanuel et al, Home alone: Remote work, isolation, and mental health, Science (2026). DOI: 10.1126/science.aec7671 Emma Zang et al, The lost social infrastructure of work, Science (2026). DOI: 10.1126/science.aeh9559 Journal information: Science © 2026 Science X Network