Mental Health could be the biggest driver of how well 18-24 year olds in the UK feel about their life in general - new research reveals

Mental Health Awareness Week (14-20 May): A new study by Walnut Unlimited, part of the Unlimited Group, has shown that nearly twice as many 18-24s feel negative about how their life is going (19%) compared to those aged 65+ (11%). 

When asked specifically about their mental health, almost a quarter (23%) of 18-24 year olds said they felt negative about it, more than any other age group, including the over 65s (5%). However, 40% of young adults say they feel positive about the country’s approach to mental health, compared to only 29% of over 65 year olds and 24% of 45-64 year olds.

Walnut Unlimited discovered through statistical analysis that an individual’s perception of their mental health appears to be the biggest driver of how positive they feel about their life in general.In other words, this analysis suggests how individuals feel about their own mental health is more important to their wellbeing than how they feel about their family life, financial situation, physical health, personal relationships, work prospects, home, or broader concerns around aspects of how the country is doing as a whole.

Steve Ogborn, Director at Walnut Unlimited said of the study’s findings:  “The high proportion of young adults who expressed degrees of poor mental health, especially when compared to other age groups was marked. Whether this is a result of additional ‘modern’ stresses placed on this age group, whether it’s a ‘typical pattern’ that’s historically existed owing to lack of life experience, or whether it’s an openness to talking about, and expressing a view on, mental health needs more investigation; something we’ll look to track each month and for future years.”  

Sarah Gordon, Director from sister health communications agency Health Unlimited added: “Understanding the importance of both a person’s physical and mental health is vital and more needs to be done to highlight the needs of young people in relation to their mental health. We have a language to talk about our physical health and we need one to talk about our mental health too, to allow all generations, but in particular millennials, to express how they are feeling.”

-ENDS-    

All data, unless otherwise stated, is from Walnut Unlimited, the human understanding agency, part of the Unlimited Group. Source: Walnut Omnibus, a nationally representative omnibus survey of 2,050 adults across GB between 13th and 16th April 2018. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+). The Key Drivers regression analysis was based on a combined dataset of over 8,000 responses achieved via the Walnut Omnibus in 2018. 

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