"Frail State of Mind" was released to positive reviews from contemporary music critics, who praised its nuanced experimental electronic soundscape and lyrical honesty, with some deeming it an album highlight.

In an interview with Aimee Cliff of Dazed, Healy spoke about one of the songs from Notes on a Conditional Form (2020) titled "Frail State of Mind", calling it a "sad, Burial kind of thing about social anxiety".

[1] On the meaning behind the track, the singer told Lisa Wright of DIY it was about feeling the need to apologise for being antisocial, the fear of not being accepted, and the internal conflict of wanting to socialise but being too anxious to do so.

[7][16][17] "Frail State of Mind" contains cascading synths,[10] a soft electronic piano loop, chopped vocal melodies,[18] and atmospherics characteristic of ambient music,[19] creating what Chris DeVille of Stereogum called "drizzly autumnal" textures.

[21] Thematically, "Frail State of Mind" discusses Healy's social anxiety and the feelings ultimately derived from it, including depression, fear, apprehensiveness, disappointment, insecurity, and anti-social behaviour.

[20] Benjo Kazue of The Ponder called the single a "dark, macabre imaginative manifestation of the world's current state of anxiety, hate, war, rampant self obsessiveness and narcissistic self doubt.

[22] Trey Alston of MTV News noted that the song focused on fear and apprehensiveness, represented musically by "drums [that] crawl around and constantly smash into each other as elastic synths unfurl and roll back up.

"[19] Rob Harvilla of The Ringer described "Frail State of Mind" as a gentle, "anxiety-ridden" dubstep ballad balanced "between introversion and a remarkably insular sort of extroversion.

"[17] DeVille found the incorporation of dubstep in "Frail State of Mind" reminiscent of British electronic musician Burial, and described the track as a "tender, hyper-modern lullaby about depression.

"[7] Similarly, Kauze compared the song's ambient soundscape to electronic music producers such as Burial, Jamie xx, Boards of Canada, Blood Orange, and Jon Hopkins.

While comparing the song's ambient atmospherics to Burial and Jon Hopkins, Daly extolled the lyrics for realistically expressing the anxiety and dread felt by young people both in the United Kingdom and abroad.

[10] Lizzie Manzo of Paste deemed "Frail State of Mind" an album highlight, praising its use of "hyper-calming, imaginative dance-pop" and "Blood Orange-esque vocal delivery.

Writing for Stereogum, DeVille called the song "lovely stuff" that harkened back to the band's earlier work, praising Healy's "fresh spin on familiar themes.

Dana Tetenburg of Euphoria praised the 1975 for "[having] a knack for turning elements of the human condition into experimental sound bites", noting the unconventional structure and vulnerable lyricism resulted in "something quite unnervingly ambient, providing a genuine insight into modern anxieties.

"[27] Madison Vettorino of Atwood Magazine said "Frail State of Mind" demonstrated how the band uses their platform to highlight difficult topics, specifically the effects of social anxiety and the impact it can have on mental health.

"[19] Heran Mamo of Billboard praised "Frail State of Mind" for its "brutally honest" narrative, saying the track "speaks to universal anxiety in an anxiety-driven world while reassuring listeners at moments like the acoustic flutter preceding the bridge.

[32] The video initially begins in black and white and opens with Healy in a small, cluttered room filled with pictures, art, papers, flyers, and a camera in the centre.