Mental health problems, especially anxiety and depressive disorders are prevailing across the globe. As of 2019, 1 in every 8 people are living with mental disorders (1). I often hear that mental disorders are increasing in Sweden, especially among young women. That could be due to more stressful and demanding lifestyles from urging information and reduced physical social contacts because of social media, and more pressure to figure out a career path in early life years compared to the past. That could be also, by the change of public awareness towards mental disorders. We are now well aware that mental disorders should be treated or prevented and therefore, we talk about it more openly than before.
The National Public Health survey (HLV) in Sweden asked questions regarding worry or anxiety (2).
Anxiety:
Q: “Do you have any of the following problems or symptoms? – Worry or anxiety?”
A: “No”, “Yes, mild problems”, “Yes, severe problems”
The chart below shows the percentage of people aged 16-84 who answered mild or severe worry or anxiety. We could see more females report worry and anxiety than males in all years. We could also see an increasing trend, especially since 2016 for both males and females.
If we look at it by age groups, a much higher proportion can be seen among the youngest age group: 16-29 years old. In 2022, it reached almost 60 %.
Seeing that by sex for the specific year 2022, more than 70% of 16-29 years old females reported worry or anxiety.
Data show that mental disorders, worry or anxiety have increased in Sweden over the decade. Especially, it seemed more conspicuous among young women: 16-29 years old females. These support what I hear but still, it is uncertain why that is happening. Biologically, women develop more mental disorders than men (4). The increasing trend of worry or anxiety is seen in both men and women and older age groups although it is more prominent in young aged women. There must be some causes that affect the whole population such as the change of public awareness, negative perspectives towards the world such as climate change, wars, and pandemics, or changes in employment situations.
Further and comprehensive investigations are needed to understand why such mental disorders are increasing across the population though, a clear gradient can be seen in income levels. The last chart shows the percentage of people who answered with “severe” worry or anxiety. There is a clear gradient from the lowest to the highest level of income. In Sweden, and probably in other countries as well, immigrants and people with low education tend to have low incomes. Therefore, the chart could indicate that severe worry or anxiety is more common among socially disadvantaged populations; low income, immigrants, and low education.
Even though the specific cause for the increasing mental disorders is uncertain, we could grasp a few ideas from these data. First, it is more prevalent among young women as I heard of. However, an increasing trend of worry or anxiety seems common across all age groups and sex. In addition, it seems more common among people with low income and there is a clear gradient.
References
- World Health Organization. Mental disorders [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Aug 5]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders
- Folkhälsomyndigheten. Nationella folkhälsoenkäten – Hälsa på lika villkor [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2023 Jul 19]. Available from: https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/folkhalsorapportering-statistik/om-vara-datainsamlingar/nationella-folkhalsoenkaten/
- Folkhälsomyndigheten. Folkhälsodata. [cited 2024 May 26]. Mental health (self-reported) by age, sex and year. Percentage. Available from: http://fohm-app.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/FolkhalsodataFolkhalsodata/pxweb/en/A_Folkhalsodata/A_Folkhalsodata__B_HLV__dPsykhals/hlv1psyaald.px/
- Riecher-Rössler A. Sex and gender differences in mental disorders. Lancet Psychiatry. 2017 Jan 1;4(1):8–9.
- Folkhälsomyndigheten. Folkhälsodata. [cited 2024 May 26]. Mental health (self-reported) by financial situation, sex and year. Percentage. Available from: http://fohm-app.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/FolkhalsodataFolkhalsodata/pxweb/en/A_Folkhalsodata/A_Folkhalsodata__B_HLV__dPsykhals/hlv1psybeko.px/
