Mental health in the Netherlands at lowest ebb in 20 years

Mental health in the Netherlands is the worst it has been in 20 years, with 15% of the population reporting psychological problems, according to the national statistics office CBS.

In the first half of 2021, the percentage of people reporting psychological issues such as feeling lonely, anxious or stressed was the highest it has been since the agency began monitoring mental health in 2001.

The figures come from the body’s periodic health survey, which asks some 10,000 people in the Netherlands about their general health.

Particularly striking was the increase in mental health problems reported amongst young people. One in four people between the ages of 18 and 25 indicated that they were unwell in the first half of 2021. That is an increase of 10 percentage points over 2020.

The CBS says that it cannot determine if the increase in problems is due to the pandemic specifically. The results from last year’s survey found relatively normal levels of mental health issues, although there was a slight uptick in the last quarter of the year.