This Thursday the ninth version of the Mental Health Thermometer corresponding to April 2024 was released. The results show that 13.4% of those surveyed exhibited suspicion or presence of mental health problems, which represents a drop in 3.7 percentage points compared to December 2023. This figure is the lowest reported since the measurement began in July 2020.
The study by the Center for Surveys and Longitudinal Studies of the Catholic University, directed by economist David Bravo, and the Chilean Security Association (ACHS), took a sample of 2,373 people over 18 years of age, to whom related questions were asked. to job satisfaction, stressors, mood, loneliness, social support, risky alcohol consumption, insomnia, sedentary lifestyle, mental problems, among others.
The results in the vast majority of areas show an improvement in the mental health of Chileans. The proportion of people who indicate a current mood that is worse than before the pandemic has been steadily decreasing throughout the nine study rounds. The decline continued in April 2024. The proportion reporting a worse mood compared to the pre-pandemic situation continues to be higher in women than in men. In April 2024, the lowest levels of depressive symptoms are also found since measurement began in 2020.
Regarding job satisfaction, 80.4% indicate that they often or always feel satisfied with their job. This is 15 points higher than what was found in 2020 and the highest level of job satisfaction was reached since the beginning of the measurement. Job satisfaction is four points higher in men than in women (82.2% versus 78.1%). It was also observed that those who are working remotely have greater job satisfaction compared to those who do not telework (85.1% versus 79.9%).
Loneliness perceived by respondents also registered the lowest level since this indicator began to be measured in the Mental Health Thermometer in November 2020. The proportion of people with high levels of loneliness reached 16.2%. In April 2023 the figure reached 20.7%. The report indicates that the decrease occurs in both women and men, although the fact remains that the levels of loneliness in women are higher than those in men.
Linked to lifestyle, risky alcohol consumption is reported to be present in 5.9% of the population, the lowest rate recorded since the end of 2020. The drop in the rate of high-risk consumption is statistically significant when compared with April 2023, when it reached 9.2%. In this last measurement there is no statistically significant difference between men (5.9%) and women (6%).
The Chileans’ sleep also gave good results. There was a sharp drop in the population with moderate or severe insomnia problems, reaching 8.4%, the lowest rate recorded since the beginning of the measurement carried out in the Mental Health Thermometer. As has been observed since this indicator began to be recorded, women have a higher prevalence of insomnia problems compared to men.
When asking about the stressful factors in people’s lives, crime remains the largest factor (58.6%). However, analysts indicate that it decreased by 11 points since 2022. Respondents also feel stressed when thinking about organized crime (57.6%). The economic situation expected for the coming months remains a factor of nervousness for 36% of those interviewed, with a drop of 18 points in the last two years. There is also a sharp drop in the possibility of Covid contagion as a cause of stress, from 61.8% in April 2021 to 10.7% in 2024. Job loss falls from 28.7 to 17.4% in the last two years. Similarly, political-social changes as a factor of nervousness fall in importance: in May 2022 the figure was 59.5% and in April 2024 it is 37.5%.
In relation to mental health, 13.3% of the sample consulted professionals in the last 12 months to address this factor (18.6% of women and 7.5% of men). The majority of mental health care reported in the last year was with psychologists (66%) and then with psychiatrists (37%) and family or general physicians (25%). 80.5% of people indicated that the treatment had been effective (it had improved their situation regarding the specific problem that led them to consult), very similar between men and women. However, almost 10% of the people assisted in the last 12 months indicated that they did not register changes or were not sure enough to respond.
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