The Swiss are flourishing while people from Britain, Hong Kong and Japan are struggling in terms of their mental health, according to Axa’s 2022 Mind and Health and Wellbeing study.
Depending on responses to its survey the insurer ranked people in four mind health bands, from flourishing at the top, through getting by and languishing to struggling at the bottom.
The study found Switzerland had the highest percentage of people who said they were flourishing (36%), while Japan posted the lowest percentage (13%). Japan also had the second highest number of people who said they were struggling (20%) – just behind the UK (24%).
Ipsos polled 11,000 people aged between 18 and 75 in 11 European and Asian countries and territories for the Axa research. These included France, the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, China, Hong Kong and Japan.
Italy had the highest number of people (71%) who found it hard to wind down in the week before the survey, compared with just 44% in Switzerland.
Meanwhile China had the most numbers of workers who reported that their employer offered good mind health support (56%). This compared with just 20% of workers in Japan.
Just 37% of participants thought the public health system in their country provided adequate support – this was particularly notable in Italy (24%) and the UK (23%) while respondents seemed to have greater trust in their health systems in China (65%) and Switzerland (58%).
Commenting on the findings, Antimo Perretta, CEO for Europe and LATAM of Axa, described the cost of undiagnosed and poorly managed mental illnesses as “colossal”.
“The OECD puts the economic impact at up to 4.2% of GDP. Axa wants to have a positive impact on mind health and wellbeing at scale to better prevent health issues,” he said.
“Through this study, we are proud to offer a holistic approach, focused on being a positive force for human progress by helping people to prevent and deal with problems early on, promoting their happiness and satisfaction, while protecting their emotional wellbeing.
“Our Mind Health Study has unlocked some valuable insights. I am confident that future research, our own as well as others, will continue to empower us to flourish as individuals and communities.”