Mental Health Survey: UK Ranked Second Most Unhappy Country

A recent study highlights a worldwide drop in mental health, notably placing the UK as the second “most miserable” country. According to the findings, “The UK scored a low 49 on a Mental Health Quotient (MHQ) scale ranging from -100 (very dissatisfied) to 200,” barely surpassing Uzbekistan, the country with the lowest score.

The report detailed, “35% of Britons and South Africans, 34% of Brazilians, 33% of Australians and 32% of Uzbekistanis reported feeling ‘distressed.'” Conversely, “14% of Sri Lankans and 17% of Italians, Georgians and Nigerians reported feeling distressed.”

Sapien Labs conducts the “Mental State of the World” poll annually, querying “hundreds of thousands of people in many countries.” For the 2023 report, “it collected data from over 500,000 respondents in 13 languages across 71 countries.”

The research uses the MHQ assessment to provide “an overall mental well-being metric (the MHQ score)” alongside insights into how individuals manage life’s stresses and maintain productivity.

This year’s report, the fourth of its kind, emphasized a continued trend: “the dramatic decline in mental well-being that occurred between 2019 and 2020, and continued into 2021 through the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to persist with no sign of recovery.”

It noted a consistent pattern in the rankings, where “countries at the top of the list are largely Latin American and African countries such as Tanzania, Nigeria, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic,” while “the wealthier countries of the Core Anglosphere such as the United Kingdom and Australia are towards the bottom.”

This finding challenges the assumption that “wealth enhances wellbeing,” as the report found “the average mental wellbeing scores of the Internet-enabled populations of countries were strongly and significantly negatively correlated with economic metrics such as per capita GDP and even the Human Development Index.”

Regarding the specifics of distress and struggle, “Sri Lanka, Italy, Georgia and Nigeria have the lowest percentages of respondents who are Distressed or Struggling, (ranging from 14 to 17%).” On the contrary, “Brazil, South Africa and the United Kingdom all show the greatest proportion of respondents who are Distressed or Struggling, ranging from 34-35%.”

The report concludes that, with mental well-being “remaining steady across almost all countries since 2021,” the rankings have also “remained relatively steady,” noting minor shifts where “Only 5 countries moved up the mental well-being scale by 2% or more while 4 moved down by 2% or more.”