Psychological stress among working-age people has increased significantly, with one in five working age respondents telling a major THL study that they suffer significant psychological stress.
The Terve Suomi study also found that the quality of life reported by working age people had also declined in recent years. Only half of working age people reported a good quality of life, compared to more than 60 percent in the same study four years ago.
One of the most concerning findings was an increase in suicidal thoughts among the under-50s. In 2018 only one in ten respondents aged under 50 said they had experienced suicide ideation, but that has increased to one in eight people in the latest edition of the study.
"There have been indications for a while that the wellbeing of working age people had declined, but to see such clear weakening of quality of life and increase in suicidal thoughts, that is concerning," said researcher Annamari Lundqvist.
Why have results worsened?
Lunqvist says it's difficult to say why things have gotten worse, but there are some general points that might have had an impact.
"There are definitely traces of Covid here," said Lundqvist. "In addition global issues like war, inflation, climate change can have an impact. So the cumulative impact of different crises."
Many working-age people also said they had used their occupational health provider's services for problems associated with their mental health. In 2018 around 15 percent of women said they had done so, in 2022 the figure was 20 percent.
Men were less likely to seek help, but the figure still rose from 9 percent to 12 percent in the latest study.
Difficult to access services
A lot of respondents said they also found it difficult to get enough time with a doctor, and to access health services in general.
There are regional differences in access to doctor's appointments, however.
The most difficult situation is in North Karelia, Central uusimaa and Kainuu, where more than 30 percent of respondents said they found doctor's services insufficient to meet demand.
The results cover the situation before the recent social and healthcare service reform.
Despite the regional differences, the situation has deteriorated in all healthcare regions, according to Lundqvist.
"On the one hand some healthcare regions are better than others, but when you look at the long-term trend then pretty much every county's situation has worsened since 2020," said Lundqvist.
The Terve Suomi study survey was sent to 62,000 people aged over 20 in different parts of Finland.
Of those some 46 percent answered the questionnaire between September 2022 and March 2023.
The results from 2018 and 2020 are based on the THL FinSote research.