47% of Venezuelans would feel stress due to economic factors

The economic issue represents the main source of stress in Venezuela, where 47% of the population has expressed it, according to the School of Psychology of the Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB), which presented the results of a psychosocial study on Tuesday.

The survey, conducted from May 9 to June 1, found that 23% of respondents said they felt stress due to health-related causes, 15% due to personal issues, 11% due to political factors, and the remaining 4% due to social factors.

Broken down by gender, 48% of women said the biggest source of stress was economic, two points higher than men, of whom 46% responded the same, according to the study document, which does not offer details on the causes.

In addition, 14% consider the economic situation in the Caribbean country to be “very good,” and 44% foresee a “hopeless future, and do not believe that things are changing for the better,” according to the study, which involved some 2,000 adult citizens.

Despite everything, 75% of the sample feels satisfied “with their life”, at a “moderate level”, and 95% believe that “they can achieve their goals, even if there are obstacles”.

Regarding the “social environment or climate” in the nation, 54% feel “fear and anxiety,” 50% “anger, hostility and aggression among people,” and another 50% “sadness, passivity and low spirits.”

However, only 11% “claim to have visited a psychologist or psychiatrist in the last two years,” according to the study, called ‘Psicodata Venezuela’.

For researchers, there is an urgent need to stop viewing mental health as “a personal and private matter (where stigma and taboos predominate)” so that it is “treated and valued as a public health issue in all instances of society.”

The School of Psychology believes that the country “urgently requires public policies to address the measured indicators of psychosocial vulnerability that exist among Venezuelans, and to guarantee the necessary means to allow the entire population to enjoy psychosocial well-being.”

In addition, it calls for training Venezuelans as “active agents in the management of their mental health” and for promoting and strengthening “psychosocial assistance programs for the vulnerable population,” among other proposals.

With information from Alberto News