• Global Mind Project survey finds declines in mental wellbeing in the post-pandemic period in those below 35  

Mental wellbeing remains at its low in post-Covid-19 pandemic with no sign of movement towards the pre-pandemic levels. Younger generations, particularly those under the age of 35, saw the steepest declines in mental wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic, while that of those over 65 stayed steady. 

This was underscored in the ‘Mental State of the World in 2023: A Perspective on Internet-Enabled Populations’ issued by the Global Mind Project, an ongoing, comprehensive survey of the mental wellbeing of the Internet enabled world. As per the report, several African and Latin American countries topped the country rankings, while wealthier countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia are at the bottom of the list. The objective of the report was to provide an evolving global map of mental wellbeing and enable insights into its drivers that can be used for the more effective management of the population’s mental wellbeing through evidence based social policies and interventions.

The report consolidates responses from over 500,000 individuals collected during the course of last year (2023) across 71 countries spanning nine geographic regions, i.e. the Core Anglosphere (the United Kingdom [UK], the United States [US], Australia, Canada, and New Zealand), Western and Eastern Europe, Latin America, Central, South and Southeast Asia, and West and North Africa. As of October 2023, there were 5.3 billion active Internet users worldwide, representing 65.7% of the global population. However, this is not so for countries in Asia and Africa where the Internet enabled population is typically a minority and generally represent higher socio-economic groups or those who have achieved greater levels of education. The Global Mind data is closely representative of the general population and aligns with national census trends. 

Global rankings 

As per the report, the Dominican Republic, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania top the rankings with mental health quotient (MHQ) scores of 88 or higher. The average MHQ score across the 71 countries measured in 2023 was 65 on the 300 point MHQ scale. Across the spectrum of mental wellbeing, 27% of respondents were distressed or struggling (MHQ scores of below zero), while 38% were succeeding or thriving (MHQ scores above 100). This is nearly identical to the global figures from the previous year (2022).

“Of these 71 countries, eight English speaking countries have been tracked since 2019 with an additional 32 countries tracked since 2021 and 64 since 2022. Across the eight English speaking countries, the average MHQ declined by 8% (24 MHQ points) between 2019 and 2020, coincident with the onset and global spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, the average MHQ for these countries declined a further 3% (eight MHQ points). Since 2021, the average MHQ, as well as the percentage of respondents who are distressed or struggling, has shown little change, regardless of whether we look across these eight original English speaking countries, the 32 countries tracked since 2021, or the 64 tracked since last year,” the report said, adding that this suggests while the declines in mental wellbeing seen during the Covid-19 pandemic have been halted, there has since been no recovery back to the pre-Covid-19 levels.

Measuring mental wellbeing

The report provides indices of various dimensions of mental wellbeing relating to specific aspects of mental functions. These include the social self, mood and outlook, adaptability and resilience, drive and motivation, cognition, and the mind-body connection. 

Mood and outlook refer to a person’s ability to manage and regulate their emotions effectively and to have a constructive or optimistic outlook for the future. The social self refers to how one interacts with, relates to, and sees themselves with respect to others. Drive and motivation explain a person’s ability to work towards achieving their desired goals and to initiate, persevere and complete activities in one’s daily life. The mind-body connection aspect describes the regulation of the balance between a person’s mind and body. Cognition relates to a person’s ability to perform basic cognitive functions, make sense of complex sets of events and situations, and display a longer term perspective in their thoughts and behaviour. In addition, adaptability and resilience refer to a person’s ability to shift their behaviour and outlook in response to changing circumstances and to cope with the challenges and setbacks that persons encounter.

In this regard, the report said: “Across all dimensions, adaptability and resilience, and drive and motivation scored the highest across most countries while mood and outlook, and social self scored the lowest. While aggregate scores for each of the six dimensions across individual countries broadly followed the trend of the overall MHQ scores, there was also some heterogeneity in the rankings for individual dimensions indicating that countries vary in their mental wellbeing profiles. For example, towards the top of the country rankings, Tanzania and the Dominican Republic showed higher social self-related scores, while Mozambique, Jordan, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia also showed higher scores for this dimension relative to similarly ranked countries, and Singapore, Ecuador, Moldova, and Belgium had lower scores for this dimension relative to similarly ranked countries. In addition, the UK, Ireland, and Australia stood out as having lower drive and motivation related scores while Bolivia, India, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan had higher related scores compared to similarly ranked countries. Similarly, adaptability and resilience scores for Canada, Germany, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, and the UK were lower, compared to similarly ranked countries. In addition, the US had lower mind-body connection scores compared to similarly ranked countries while India, Pakistan, and Bolivia showed higher related scores for this dimension.” 

Conclusions

With mental wellbeing remaining steady across almost all countries since 2021, the report said, the rankings too have remained relatively steady. Only five countries moved up the mental wellbeing scale by 2% or more, while four moved down by 2% or more. As seen in each year, countries at the top of the list are largely Latin American and African countries such as Tanzania, Nigeria, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic, while the wealthier countries of the Core Anglosphere such as the UK and Australia are towards the bottom.

“This runs counter to our common perception that wealth enhances wellbeing. In our annual report for 2021, we showed that the average mental wellbeing scores of the Internet enabled populations of countries were strongly and significantly negatively correlated with economic metrics such as the per capita gross domestic product and even the Human Development Index. Why is this so?”

The report explained its findings: “A second finding relates to the consumption of ultra processed food. In this rapid report published earlier this year (2023), based on a sample of 292,786 respondents, we showed that the more frequent consumption of ultra processed food results in substantially poorer mental wellbeing at all ages, with a broad impact on symptoms of depression and emotional and cognitive control. For example, we found that over half of those who eat ultra processed food daily are distressed or struggling with their mental wellbeing, compared to just 18% of those who rarely or never consume ultra processed food, an almost three-fold increase. Similar to the age of smartphone ownership, less developed countries tend to have lower ultra processed food consumption, while 60-70% of food consumption in Core Anglosphere countries like the US and UK are ultra processed. A third factor discussed in our report last year (2022) is diminished family bonds. For example, across a sample of 407,959 respondents, we found that 10% of 18-24 year olds did not get along with any of their family and preferred not to see them compared to only 3% of the oldest generation. At the same time, the risk of mental health challenges in adulthood is four times lower if you have close family relationships. Again, it was wealthier countries, such as those in the Core Anglosphere, that reported the lowest closeness to many adult family members (23%) and the least stable and loving childhood homes (39%).”

Altogether, the report said, the above mentioned situation suggests that greater wealth and economic development does not necessarily lead to greater mental wellbeing, but instead can lead to consumption patterns and a fraying of social bonds that are detrimental to the people’s ability to thrive. This cautions strongly against purely focusing on economic metrics as measures of human progress and wellbeing. It added that attention must be paid to how wealth is created and used to drive a path of holistic prosperity that is aligned with human wellbeing.

In conclusion, the report pointed out that the mental wellbeing scores reflect the human ability to navigate the normal stresses of life and to function in a productive way, and urge the reader to consider the consequences of a society diminished in this manner. It added that the challenge that lies ahead is to understand the drivers of people’s collective mental wellbeing so that they can align their ambitions and goals with the functional capacity and genuine prosperity of human beings.