Almost Four In 10 Young Adults In Middle East Struggling With Mental Health, Report Finds
Close to 40 per cent of young people aged 18 to 24 in the Middle East struggled with their mental health last year, a global study has found. The Mental State of the World Report ascribed the worrying trend to the Covid-19 pandemic with its repeated lockdowns, study at home and long spells of enforced isolation. But it also said the surge in mobile phone and internet use meant people spend less time making human connections, a trend the study’s authors believe needs “immediate attention”. Researchers polled 223,087 people in 34 countries with widespread internet access. The results were published by Sapien Labs, a US non-profit. It measured mental health in people of all ages but found the global deterioration in the youngest adults to be of most concern. Clare Turnbull says pupils need to openly discuss issues of mental health. “The results, quite honestly, surprised us,” said Tara Thiagarajan of Sapien Labs and Jennifer Newson, the lead scientist for the report. “The...