Social Status and Mental Health

Social status is commonly divided into the following categories AB - referring to those who benefit from the very top income, best education and employment status, this is followed by C1, C2 and DE, with the DE group the least affluent, meaning this group would be in the lowest income bracket and would not benefit from the social and economic advantages of the higher groups.

We wanted to see how mental health was affected as you look at these groups, to see whether, as is commonly reported we found a link between better opportunities in life and the quality of ones mental health and wellbeing.

This is what we found: 

.12% of people in group DE admit to self-medicating with alcohol, in contrast to just 5% in the AB group.

. Of those asked, 48- 50% in AB/C1/C2 social classes said they were very mentally healthy. When compared to the DE social group (the least affluent) only 37% rated themselves as such. This confirms that the fewer social and economic opportunities open to you, the more likely you are to suffer from mental health issues.

. Work-related – 6% of unemployed say they are very mentally unhealthy, only 45% say they are very mentally healthy. Maybe even more surprisingly: of those employed, only 47% would classify themselves as very mentally healthy, leaving 53% admitting to less than perfect mental health.

. Of those working full-time, only 17% strongly agreed they would seek the help of a professional if faced with a mental health issue, compared to 22% of the unemployed.

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