It will be employment difficulties, it will be uncertainty about the future, it will be an unsatisfied desire to leave the house and be free from parents, it will be a thirty-year mortgage on the first house that will not fully pay off. take possession before 60 years, but in Italy, only 1 in 12 young people report a state of complete mental well-being. Anxiety about the psychological state of a country bent by a pandemic, affected by war, worried about global climate conditions and at the same time a victim of its own immobility when it comes to green politics, comes from the AXA Mind Health Report 2023, a survey conducted by Ipsos with a sample of more than 30,000 people aged 18 to 74 in 16 countries, including Italy.
According to the report, Boot certified last in Europe for mental well-being, although the tendency to care for him and talk about him is growing. Together with Japan, with which we have the lowest birth rate in the world, we have the lowest percentage of people experiencing a state of complete mental well-being. The greatest difficulties are noted between boys – among them, 38% discount the effect of the uncontrolled use of technology and social networks – and among womendue to the gender inequality felt in everyday life. In fact, more than 40% of them saw their abilities questioned because of their gender, and one in three received unwanted comments about their gender.
Another important issue is with regard to perception of well-being in the workplace. When examining the relationship between general mental health and occupational well-being, understood as the ability to feel “in the flow”, i.e. focused, productive and goal-oriented, it turns out that only 15% of the sample declare themselves as highly productive. The better the mental state, the lower the intention to change jobs, and one of the best antidotes to the “big resignations” phenomenon in terms of mental well-being is hybrid work, although 23% of Italians prefer working from home. It is no coincidence that in recent weeks the CISL has called for short workweeks in Italy to make work more flexible and sustainable, following positive response in the UK and Spain.
But what are the most common inconveniences? First place in the world lo stress: in Italy it is felt by 56% of the sample, an increase of 8% compared to 2022. And then the feeling loneliness, condemned by 48% of Italians, the worst figure in Europe. This state is also affected by the negative impact of war, which is felt by 52% of the sample, and the negative effects of climate change (43%, third in Europe). As mentioned above, women are the main victims of deprivation: they are forced to leave their jobs on maternity leave or accept precarious contracts to care for children and elderly parents.
Fortunately, something is changing, at least in terms of the degree of awareness of the problem.. More and more people are willing to face a mental health problem without resorting to self-diagnosis. Compared to last year, the stigma about this topic is decreasing, and the tendency to care about it is growing. There is also openness in the form of support for the use of digital tools, which was positively welcomed by 31% of those surveyed and in some cases maintained. An important signal that demonstrates how slowly certain taboos are breaking down and, on the contrary, our collective awareness of the problem is growing, including with the aim of prevention.
Source: Elle