TAMPA, Fla. — Sapien Labs founder and chief scientist Dr. Tara Thiagarajan just released their 2023 Mental State of the World Report.
Over 500,000 respondents were surveyed including 71 countries in 13 different languages.
The report indicates the dramatic decline in mental well-being during and after the Pandemic continues to persist around the globe with no signs of recovery.
Dr. Thiagarajan says there are 3 different reasons why our mental well-being continues to struggle on a global level, and it all starts with the age of a child’s first smartphone.
“There's a very systematic increase in mental health challenges in adulthood, the younger you got a smartphone,” explained Dr. Thiagarajan.
And new research indicated there are specific aspects impacted by that age.
“The younger you got your smartphone, the more likely you are to have suicidal thoughts as a young adult. The more likely you are to feel detached from reality. The more likely you are to feel aggression,” said Dr. Thiagarajan.
Lower income countries, which performed better reported a person’s first smartphone at 16 to 17 years old. But the wealthier countries, struggling at higher rates gave smartphones to children between the ages of 9 to 11.
The second factor is the high consumption of ultra processed food and how it effects the brain and body.
"It actually impacts very broadly every aspect of mental function. But more specifically, you know, symptoms associated with depression, and also aspects of, you know, emotional and cognitive control,” said Dr. Thiagarajan.
Interestingly, the wealthier the country the worse they performed in this report.
“More developed countries, a larger proportion of their food consumption is ultra processed. Whereas if you look at, you know, the countries that are doing a lot better in Latin America, in Sub Saharan Africa, their food systems are much more fresh food,” explained Dr. Thiagarajan.
She also believes the food industry is in need of more research and more regulation, so that globally there’s a safer food environment.
“There's not been much regulation at all of food and the chemicals that go into food. And there's, you know, it has been over the last few decades, a huge increase in the number of chemical additives, they're untested, we don't know, a lot of them what impact they actually have in the long term,” said Dr. Thiagarajan.
The third factor, deteriorating family bonds.
“With each younger generation, you see a decline in closeness to family. You see an increase in estrangement from family. And this is more so in more developed countries. Whereas, the less developed countries, which are more at the top of our rankings have much closer families,” said Dr. Thiagarajan.
As in previous years, several African and Latin American countries topped the rankings in their mental well-being. But wealthier countries of the core anglosphere like the United Kingdom and Australia performed towards the bottom of the list. The United States landed in the middle of the pack.
