The National Center for Mental Health Promotion announced the results of the mental health index in the Kingdom for the year 2022, which shows a slight decrease in the prevalence of depressive symptoms, which amounted to 12.7% compared to 2020, when the rate was 13.8%.
The center stated that the risk rate of depression is higher in the age group over 60 years, with a higher probability of infection in females, and the risk rates increase if the income is less than 5 thousand riyals, in addition to the symptoms of depression being slightly higher in unmarried couples.
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575 thousand references for #clinics _ of _ mental _ health In the Kingdom in 2020 https://t.co/rgLJbX8qBI #The _ future _ of _ media _ starts _ from _ today pic.twitter.com/0SliWAR5WA– Today newspaper (@alyaum) July 28, 2021
The risk of injury increases in people who do not engage in physical activity, and those with lower-than-normal weights suffer from more severe symptoms of depression than others. It is interesting that volunteering is associated with alleviating symptoms of depression, and smoking increases the risk of infection with it.
Women are more anxious
The center indicated that the general anxiety index increased slightly compared to 2020, and the index showed more severe symptoms in the age group less than 20 years and over 60 years, and the index indicates a higher possibility for females to develop symptoms of general anxiety, with a correlation with an increase in anxiety symptoms in the absence of Having a stable income, or income less than 5,000, with a slight increase in the incidence of anxiety symptoms among married people compared to unmarried people.
The risk rate of depression is higher in the age group over 60 years, with a higher probability of infection in females, and the risk rates increase if the income is less than 5 thousand riyals. #Psychological health #Depression– The National Center for Mental Health Promotion (@NCMH_SA) January 10, 2023
Physical activity was associated with a lower risk of anxiety symptoms, and those with less than ideal weight or obesity suffered more anxiety symptoms than others.
The center stated that the index shows a significant decrease in symptoms of anxiety among those who practice voluntary work or daily hobbies, and smoking was associated with higher rates of anxiety than non-smokers, indicating that the index, through comparison with countries in the world, shows that Saudi Arabia achieves lower levels in prevalence rates of symptoms of depression. and general anxiety.