Yahoo Finance More than 10 million Brits are suffering from high levels of anxiety, ONS figures reveal
More than 10 million Brits are suffering from high levels of anxiety, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Figures for the third quarter of 2019 (July to September) showed that average anxiety ratings “remained at an elevated level”, with about 10.6 million people reporting high anxiety.
The statistics are part of an analysis of personal and economic well-being in the UK, released on Thursday.
According to the figures, life satisfaction fell in the same quarter compared with the year before, driven by concerns about future employment prospects.
The ONS said it was the first time, since it started measuring them in 2011, that both life satisfcation and feeling that things done in life were worthwhile had fallen, compared to the year before.
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It also found that people’s concerns about general economic outlook continued to grow up to September 2019, reaching their highest level since late 2011.
Britons’ battle with anxiety isn’t new – last year research by recruitment firm Robert Half UK suggested that the UK workforce was being increasingly held back by mental health problems such as stress, depression and anxiety.
A survey of more than 2,000 employees by the firm suggested that more than one in 10 (13%) Brits were unhappy at work – accounting for more than 4.3 million people.
The latest ONS figures also showed that expectations about the economy were reflected in real household spending per person, which grew at its slowest rate since the end of 2016, when comparing the latest quarter with the same quarter a year ago.
