{"id":784436,"date":"2026-09-27T16:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T16:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/784436\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T16:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T16:50:12","slug":"worrying-amount-of-anxiety-survey-points-to-living-costs-as-key-mental-health-strain-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/784436\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Worrying amount of anxiety\u2019 \u2013 survey points to living costs as key mental health strain \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cost of living<\/a> pressures are taking the biggest toll on people\u2019s mental health, according to new research. <\/p>\n

In the Attitudes to Mental Health and Stigma survey of more than 1,000 adults, almost three-quarters cited the cost of living<\/a> as the top reason their mental health<\/a> was negatively affected. <\/p>\n

It was followed by just over half ranking family or personal relationship concerns. Personal issues were identified by 44 per cent as their top worry, and world news by 32 per cent.<\/p>\n

The survey was commissioned by St Patrick\u2019s Mental Health Services in advance of Budget 2027<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Almost all respondents (92 per cent) said there was a \u201cworrying amount of anxiety in society\u201d while 80 per cent believed social media and\/or smartphone use were associated with mental health difficulties in adults. A similar proportion (81 per cent) linked them to mental health difficulties in children.<\/p>\n

Just under one third identified loneliness and isolation as negatively influencing their mental health and wellbeing in daily life, ahead of concerns about housing (24 per cent) and climate change (17 per cent).<\/p>\n

While 62 per cent of respondents reported satisfaction with their mental health, one third said they had been, or know someone who had been, discriminated against due to mental health difficulties. Another 27 per cent would consider it a sign of weakness if they sought help for a mental health difficulty. The same percentage said they would tell no one if they were experiencing suicidal thoughts.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Inside Budget 2027: \u2018The meeting was brutal\u2019 – the tensions on the road to new spending packageOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

However, St Patrick\u2019s Mental Health Services said there had been a noticeable increase in the number of people seeking support for their mental health in recent years. <\/p>\n

In 2026, 73 per cent of respondents who had experienced a mental health difficulty had sought support, compared to just 35 per cent in 2020. In addition, 80 per cent believe those with difficulties experience less stigma and discrimination than 10 years ago, and 47 per cent have, or know someone who has had, positive experiences of disclosing mental health difficulties, compared to just 34 per cent two years ago.<\/p>\n

Paul Gilligan, chief executive of St Patrick\u2019s Mental Health Services, said there had been \u201csignificant improvements in attitudes and responses to mental health on both an individual and societal level, as well as an increase in people seeking support for their mental health\u201d. <\/p>\n

However, he said it was clear that external pressures, such as economic uncertainty and international conflict, were increasingly influencing people\u2019s mental health. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs we navigate these challenges, it is important to maintain a strong national focus on mental health, ensuring we understand the issues emerging and develop appropriate responses that protect and promote people\u2019s mental health and their right to good mental health.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Anxiety \u2018most prevalent mental health difficulty\u2019 for secondary school studentsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cost of living pressures are taking the biggest toll on people\u2019s mental health, according to new research. In…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":784437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[458,102,1906,6623,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-784436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-budget","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}