The mental health of young adults in Southeast Brabant is quite concerning. The GGD reports that half the population between 16 and 25 years experience psychological complaints.
Two thousand three hundred young adults from the region participated in the survey. Women are said to suffer the most from psychological complaints. A quarter of the survey participants feel limited to a greater or lesser extent by their mental problems. Young adults who live alone and have a lower to middle education are not well off financially, so they are most likely found to have suicidal thoughts.
Loneliness is also a problem for the group in question, according to the GGD. Women, young adults living alone and those with less education are the vulnerable groups.
Drug use
In addition, the GGD sees that alcohol and drug use often occurs among young adults in the region. One in five respondents would have used a drug in the last month. The same number of participants indicated that they drink at least once a week.
According to the GGD, it is difficult to say to what extent the complaints are the result of the corona crisis, but it is clear that that period had a lot of influence on a large proportion of young adults.
Crucial Concerns
“These figures confirm our concerns about the mental well-being of many young people,” says Thieu Smeets, director of GGD Brabant-Zuidoost. “The research underlines the need to focus on prevention, especially in the region and, where necessary, provide young adults with mental health support at an early stage.” Many young adults in the rest of the country also suffer from mental complaints, reports the GGD.
