‘Clanging Chimes Of Doom' As ‘Sad’ Season Piles On Mental Health Gloom

The disruption to our circadian rhythms when sleep patterns get messed up such as at the weekend when the clocks went back and the days become darker, looks set to cause further mental upset for many Brits. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is feeling very real for many tired Brits this winter. Nearly two out of three (61%) worry a lack of sleep could lead them into anxiety and depression, according to new research.

The rising cost-of-living has also impacted sleep, with Brits feeling anxiety over growing prices of essential items, along with mortgage and rent increases. Indeed, Britain looks to be facing a post pandemic mental health crisis according to this new research, which shows that increased social isolation following long Covid lockdowns has left one in four Brits (24%) saying they feel they have absolutely no one they can turn to with their worries when things get too much for them.

Nearly one in five Brits (19%) say they are suffering from poor mental health, with family, financial, and health worries weighing the heaviest on their shoulders - the figure is twice as high as the average across the rest of Europe, where fewer than one in ten, just 9% of the population feel their mental health is poor.



The research has been published by global healthcare company STADA Arzneimittel AG, parent company of Thornton & Ross, the household and pharmaceutical giant behind some of the biggest brands in medicine and cleaning cupboards as well as ‘Natures Aid’® range of sleep and mood supplements, herbal products and multivitamins.



A problem shared really is a problem halved

The old adage ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ seems to be backed up by the research’s discovery that living alone increases the likelihood of poor mental health. Nearly half (47%) of those in single person households don’t describe theirs as good, compared with just 42% of people living with others.

Men’s mouths are firmly shut

Unsurprisingly, men are revealed by the findings to be much more likely to bottle up their emotions than women – nearly two out of three (64%) say they won’t share worries with family or friends, whereas more than one in two women (51%) feel able to turn to them for emotional support. Indeed, women are more likely to turn to friends and family with their problems than to their partner. Fewer than half see their spouse or partner as a helpful sounding board – just 45%.

Brits’ biggest mental burdens

In a troubling reflection of the ongoing cost of living crisis leaving many people working tirelessly without the time to take proper care of their own health or that of their families, worries around these issues are playing on the mind of many Brits.



A slippery slope

The findings show that although we seem aware of our predicament, many of us are not able to find a way through – more than one in 10 of us (11%) just see our mental health deteriorating further over the next 12 months.


The greyer the hair, the happier the head

There may be light at the end of the tunnel though - Brits’ mental health improves greatly once the stresses of career building and raising families are a thing of the past. More than half of working age people in the UK describe their mental health as not being good (52%), but things pick up hugely for the over 55s, with 73% saying they have good mental health. And it seems stopping working could be the true holy grail for happiness – only 7% of retired people describe their mental health as poor.