According to a new report, India has been struck with an increase in headaches directly linked to stress levels, which have themselves been rising since the start of the pandemic
The pandemic has evidently had an impact on mental health, at least in the short term. But it's more complicated to determine whether the phenomenon is affecting all populations worldwide, and whether its effects can take hold over a longer period. According to a new report, India has been hit hard, with an increase in headaches directly linked to stress levels, which have themselves been rising since the start of the pandemic.
Often regarded as one of the major public health issues of our time, along with sedentary lifestyles, the deterioration of mental health is such that in 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) called on "mental health decision makers and advocates to step up commitment and action to change attitudes, actions and approaches to mental health, its determinants and mental health care." In the same report, the global health authority recalls that, in 2019, ie, before the pandemic, nearly a billion people were living with a mental disorder, including 14% of adolescents, and that depression and anxiety levels jumped by more than 25% in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic alone.
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Among the stress factors cited by those surveyed, financial problems and work pressure top the list, for both working and non-working people. Next come health problems and family conflicts, which were also stress factors for the survey panel. "The findings highlight the need for effective stress management strategies in a post-pandemic world," the researchers explain in a news release. Stress levels have increased by 12% and 13% in the 26-35 and 36-45 age groups respectively, compared to the pre-pandemic period, and the 26-35 age group is considered the most stressed generation (87%).
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Among the report's other findings, the researchers note that Mumbai is considered the country's "headache capital." In any case, it is the one and only major city (tier 1 city) where the incidence of headaches exceeds 90%, just ahead of Chennai (89%). Tier 2 cities include Ahmedabad and Bhubaneswar, where no less than 99% of residents claim to suffer from headaches.