An increasing number of people said they have lost the will to live, doctors said yesterday, the result of declining mental health in the country.
The latest biennual survey by the Mental Health Foundation found the average adult scored 80.11 points out of 100 on mental health.
A score of 80 is the threshold for what is considered to be mentally healthy, which means people in Taiwan “barely passed,” said Tom Yang (楊聰財), chief psychiatrist at Cardinal Tien Hospital’s department of psychiatry and mental health.
This was a significant decrease from two years ago, when the overall score was 82.6, he said.
The unemployed and individuals looking for jobs scored the lowest of all respondent, at 73.05 points. This could be because of high unemployment rates and the gloomy economic outlook, Yang said.
Another group with a low score was the divorced or widowed, at 72.15.
The survey had questions on four areas: emotional and physical health, self esteem, everyday behavior and family life. Family life was the only area in which the mental health score was above 80.
“We can see that the overall score was kept above 80 only because [the average score in] the family life category was high enough,” Yang said.
However, the lowest score in this category was whether the respondent was satisfied with the way family members sympathized with his or her troubles. Yang said people may have work-related problems for which family members may not be able to help.
More than 30 percent of respondents believed their skills and talents were not being put to use, and were not satisfied with their current accomplishments, while 43.5 percent said they did not believe the conditions would improve.
In the last few months, “some of my patients have come to ask me what they can do to end their lives,” Yang said. “This is very distressing.”
Those who have some time on their hands because they have been laid off or are forced to take unpaid leave are urged to do volunteer work, he said.
“Helping others has been medically proven to improve one’s self esteem,” he said. “Volunteering will also help you get out into the world, as well as allow you to interact with other people.
The survey was conducted in September and October, and 1,114 effective samples were obtained.
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