A quarter of the population feels anxiety and stress, the reason being the wars in Ukraine and Israel

Such results are shown by a representative survey of the population, commissioned by the platform “Visipsichologai.lt” and carried out by “Spinter research”.

Correspondingly, the share of people experiencing slightly increased negative emotions decreased – from 44 percent to up to 40 percent, so the overall rate of those with emotional challenges remains almost unchanged – 65 percent.

As announced in the report, since the spring of 2022, when the emotional well-being of the population was measured twice a year, the overall indicator of feeling bad reached 87 percent. The improvement was observed in the spring of this year – the share of the population experiencing negative emotions decreased to 64 percent. But in the fall, the curve of the emotional health index began to rise again, according to the survey.

“This fall, the war in Ukraine, the new war in Israel, the Gaza Strip, and various other disturbances in the world are usually cited as the cause of increased tension, anxiety or stress. Even 39 percent indicated this reason. of respondents, when in the spring the war caused negative emotions for 17 percent. population”, commented Paulius Tamulionis, head of Visipsichologai.lt.

According to him, work, various problems at work are second only to the war. Currently, a fifth of the population (19%) feels tension, stress, anxiety at work, similar to six months ago (22%).

The third reason for feeling bad is the rise in prices, inflation, which was named by 14% as the cause of anxiety. of respondents (previously – 13%), financial worries and poverty are named in fourth place (10% now and in the spring).

Women are more stressed

Psychologist Vilma Šimaitienė pointed out that women feel the increased level of anxiety, tension, and stress more than men. According to her, women are more worried about war and price growth, inflation, general economic situation, while men feel more tension about the future, political situation, high pace, geopolitics in the world.

The study shows that younger respondents (25-35 years old) tend to worry more and feel more stress. They are worried about work, instability in it, workload and high pace. Older people are more worried about war, price rise, inflation, general economic situation.

The least anxious and stressed are people without secondary education. It is observed that the higher the level of education, the higher the level of stress due to war. It is also observed that people with higher education or incomplete higher education are more worried, feel more stressed about price growth, work, instability at work, workload and unrest in the world.

As the survey shows, the least, up to 300 euros, feel the most tension. earning population. Small entrepreneurs are the most worried about the future, while people in managerial positions or employees feel stress from work, instability at work, workload. Meanwhile, workers are under pressure from rising prices and inflation, and they are also worried about geopolitics.

Since stress is often caused by change, psychologists advise developing the ability to manage change, change your beliefs and abilities. It is also important to create harmonious relationships with yourself and others – to increase self-awareness, self-confidence, inner harmony, thus strengthening emotional mental health.

The study also shows that 40 percent population tend to seek help from a psychologist or psychotherapist if they feel stress, tension, or anxiety. This overall indicator has slightly decreased since the spring of this year, when 44 percent were inclined to apply, but a long-term growth trend is noticeable, as in the spring of 2022, 35 percent would have chosen the help of a specialist. respondents.

The opinion of 1016 respondents aged between 18 and 75 was asked during the survey conducted by the company “Spinter tyrimi”.