More young adults than before suffered from psychological problems in the first half of this year, according to figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). One in four people between the ages of 18 and 25 was psychologically unhealthy in the first half of 2021. That is an increase of 10 percent compared to 2020.
According to the CBS, someone is classified as psychologically unhealthy if, for example, they often feel gloomy, nervous and experience a lot of stress. According to the latest figures, young adults suffer from such complaints more often than other age groups.
People outside the age group of 18 to 25 also have more mental health problems than before. On average, 15 percent of people over the age of 12 are psychologically unhealthy. That is the highest percentage since 2001, when people’s mental complaints were first measured by Statistics Netherlands.
The figures are striking, because the CBS previously reported that the psychological state of people in 2020 was the same as in other years. There was only a slight increase in the last quarter of that year. This trend therefore appears to be continuing in the first half of 2021.
Influence of pandemic
Statistics Netherlands cannot determine whether the corona crisis is the cause of the increase in mental health complaints among people. Other researchers and healthcare professionals have been warning for some time about the potential consequences of the pandemic on the mental health of people, especially young adults.
Earlier this year, the Trimbos Institute published a study into the impact of the corona crisis on people’s mental health. This shows that mental health has deteriorated, especially among people between the ages of 20 and 35, since the pandemic.
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