The myth of a happy, sociable Greek enjoying life in Europe’s sun-drenched south seems to be far from reality, according to a study, ranking Greece the worst in Europe in regards to mental health issues.
The latest European Social Survey (ESS), presented by Greece’s National Center for Social Research in December 2024, paints a bleak picture regarding the mental health of Greeks. It also highlights a clear link between social and economic inequalities and mental health challenges.
The survey, which covers 24 European countries, ranks Greece as the country with the highest average rate of depressive symptoms in Europe, with a score of 1.87.
It is followed by Portugal with a score of 1.86, while other Mediterranean countries like Cyprus, Italy and Spain, are also included in the top ten of countries with the highest average rate of depressive symptoms. The findings appear to debunk the common perception that people living in Europe’s south, mostly due to the mild weather and the proximity to the sea, have a higher level of positivity and feelings of joy compared to those living in northern European countries.
Within Greece, also contrary to popular perception, those in the regions of North and South Aegean (namely island regions), along with those in Epirus (the second poorest region of the country after North Aegean) and Thessaly (which has experienced several major natural disasters when the survey was conducted) reported the most frequent symptoms of depression.
Based on other mental health studies, depression appears to be on the rise globally, yet in Greece indicators, according to experts, are going upwards more aggressively.
“Greece had to carry a disproportionate weight during its economic crisis [2009-2019]. We went through three [debt] memorandums and now we witness the ripple effects of that period,” Dr. Venetsanos Mavreas, a psychiatrist and professor tells tvxs.
“We live in a society of consumerism without being able to consume. Living conditions favor despair,” notes psychiatrist Katerina Matsa also to tvxs, while adding that the causes are social and the effects of Greece’s crises (including the pandemic), where everything happened too fast.
More alarming mental health indicators for Greeks: loneliness and sadness
Greece, according to the ESS survey, is at the top in terms of loneliness, a major indicator for mental well-being. It recorded the highest score (1.6), followed by Italy, Portugal, France, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Lithuania with a score of 1.5.
In addition, the indicator concerning the frequency of feeling sad places Lithuania in the first place with a score of 1.8. It is followed by Greece, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain with an average score of 1.7.
In contrast, the citizens of Finland reported the least frequent feelings of sadness, with a score of 1.3.
Greek researchers George Bithymitri (National Center for Social Research), Nikandros Ioannidis (CUT) and Yannos Katsouridis (University of Nicosia), took the ESS survey a step further. The team shed light on the link between social class, regional development and mental health. Their findings revealed that for example, the working class exhibit the highest levels of depressive symptoms compared to employers, who exhibit the least.
“At the social clinics we have, most of the patients who come, come with symptoms of depression. What we systematically hear is that they cannot program their lives, that they cannot make it through life…They have the feeling that they cannot offer to their children what they would like to offer…And loneliness is also a major cause. Humans have become more individualistic beings and this is painful because we are social beings,” Dr. Matsa says.