Arab countries ranked last in the World Mental State Report 2022, issued by Sapien Labs, a non-profit research organization that conducts an annual global survey to understand the state of mental health.
The introduction to the study stated that the organization presents, for the third year, a report on the mental state of the world.
This report brings together data obtained in nine languages from nearly 500,000 people in 64 countries during the year 2022.
According to the organization, this is a significant expansion from the year 2021, making the report the largest database on mental health in the world.
And she pointed out that during the year 2022, the state of mental health remained the same as it was during the year 2021, and no recovery appeared after the significant decline that lasted for two years with Corona injuries.
At the height of the epidemic, nearly a third of the population was still struggling with mental health.
The report says that young people between the ages of 18 and 24 are five times more likely to develop mental health problems than the older generation.
According to the organization, younger adults have increasingly higher rates of family instability, problems, and a lack of love and emotional warmth during childhood.
She adds that they are three times more likely to have poor family relationships among adults, compared to their parents’ generation, and are more likely to lack friends who will help them in times of need.
The organization warned that those with poor family relationships and no friends are ten times more likely to suffer from significant mental health challenges than those with close family ties and friendships.
The study found that the pandemic has severely affected people’s mental health and relationships around the world, especially for young people.
The survey found there was little recovery in the decline in mental health during the pandemic, which the group measures through a score called the “mental health quotient”. And that the average score has fallen by 33 points, on a 300-point scale, over the past two years and has so far shown no signs of improvement, remaining at the same level as in 2021.
According to research, family relationships are diminishing all over the world, which is detrimental to anyone’s mental health.
Tanzania, Panama, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela are among the countries with the highest ratings for mental health, while Britain, Ireland, Australia, South Africa and Brazil all have lower ratings.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE ranked middle in terms of mental health, while Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, Algeria and Jordan ranked last.