Anxiety ranks as the top health and wellbeing concern among expats, followed by depression, according to research from Axa Global Healthcare.
The research based on thousands of social media comments from expats in Canada, Dubai, France, Hong Kong, Scandinavia and the UK, found anxiety was the top health and wellbeing concern.
Overall it was recorded as top for a third of expats in the UK (32%), around a quarter of those in Scandinavia (27%), France (24%) and Dubai (23%), and one in five of those in Hong Kong (22%) and Canada (18%).
Depression ranked as the next biggest challenge reported by those expats in the UK (13%), Canada (12%), Scandinavia (12%) and France (9%), whereas pregnancy and early-stage parenthood in Dubai (12%) was the second biggest issue expats faced.
Chronic conditions such as diabetes were described as a challenge by 15% of expats in Hong Kong, 9% in Canada and the UK, 7% in France, 6% in Scandinavia and just 5% in Dubai.
Touching on steps to manage their general mental and physical wellbeing, using professional healthcare services seemed to be the most popular port of call for a third (33%) of expats in Canada, a quarter in France (24%) and nearly one-in-five of those in Scandinavia and Hong Kong (17%).
However, UK expats relied most heavily on their relationships (17%) and those in Dubai on mindfulness (12%).
Across all six locations, practices such as exercise, nutrition and therapy were also highlighted as ways to manage mental and physical health.
Exercise was used as a support mechanism for 9% of those in Dubai, 6% in France, Hong Kong and Scandinavia, 5% in the UK and 4% in Canada.
Meanwhile, 6% of those in France and Hong Kong, 5% in the UK, 4% in Dubai and Scandinavia and 3% in Canada turned to nutrition.
Caroline Walmsley, chief people officer at Axa Global Healthcare, said: “As concerning as it might be, it’s perhaps unsurprising that anxiety seems to be the greatest challenge for expats.
“When we consider the circumstances they face – far from home, in a new environment and potentially even contending with a different language all in the confines of a global pandemic – it’s easy to see why they might be suffering with anxiety.
“There are small actions that we can all take every day to improve our mental wellbeing. However, it’s just as important to be able to recognise when it’s time to seek help,” Walmsley added.
The insurer said it had hoped “quick wins” like eating well and exercising regularly would have been more popular and recommended people to bear these in mind.
However, it noted that mindfulness was a popular coping strategy for expats in some locations and virtual tools were now providing that kind of support remotely.
To carry out the research, Axa commissioned Listen + Learn to observe thousands of social media comments, shared by expats in six key locations during discussions about health and wellbeing. The main findings were based on 15 key online domains, with the conversation proving to be most concentrated on Twitter and Reddit.
