More Koreans suffer from mental illness, survey reveals

By Park Ung Posted : July 5, 2024, 17:27 Updated : July 5, 2024, 17:30
Medical staff walk at the Seoul Asan Medical Center on July 4th Yonhap
Seoul's Asan Medical Center bustles with patients on July 4, 2024. Yonhap.
SEOUL, July 5 (AJU PRESS) Seven out of every ten Koreans experienced mental illness such as severe stress, insomnia and depression over the past year, a recent survey reveals.
 
The online survey, conducted by the National Center for Mental Health, polled 3,000 people nationwide aged between 15 and 69 and found that some 73.6 percent suffered from such symptoms, showing an increase of nearly 10 percentage points from 63.9 percent in the same survey in 2022.

Despite the increase, over half of the respondents considered their mental health to be "good" overall and around 78.8 percent said they "tried hard to maintain good mental health."

Their common mental illness included severe stress, prolonged depression, smartphone addiction and suicidal thoughts.

About 49.4 percent turned to their family and relatives for help, followed by psychiatrists or nurses (44.2 percent) and friends (41 percent).

The survey also revealed that most respondents are still hesitant to seek professional help, such as psychiatric treatment, due to concerns about potential disadvantages in their employment or daily lives.

Respondents were asked to tick their major symptoms with multiple answers allowed. The survey, initially launched in 2016, has been conducted every two years since 2022.
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