The Great British Wellbeing Survey
The Truth About Improving Your Mental Health features findings from . Carried out by the Cognitive Diagnostics Group at Imperial College, London, it’s the largest online survey of mental health and cognition in the UK.
About the survey
Over the past year, the Cognitive Diagnostics Group from Imperial College in London have been carrying out an extensive survey of our mental health.
With 390,000 participants from across the country, it gives us a unique snapshot of the state of our mental health before and during the Covid 19 pandemic.
It aims to gather in-depth responses from a broad range of respondents in terms of age, income bracket, gender and ethnicity.
By taking part in this survey, you will help scientists to paint a detailed picture of the nation’s wellbeing and cognitive faculties before, during and after the pandemic lockdown, and to understand the factors that influence the impact that this has had on different people. That information will help us to understand what people are doing that is having a positive impact on mental wellbeing during the crisis.
The more people take part in the survey, the better we’ll understand ways to help with mental health challenges, and how to tailor that help for different parts of the population.
You can take part in the survey now
The survey should take about 30 minutes to complete.
It has two stages. First you will be asked to complete a questionnaire about your lifestyle, personality, technology use and wellbeing. This part takes about 10 minutes to complete.
Then, there is a series of short tests lasting between 1 and 4 minutes each to test your cognitive skills. At the end, you will receive a summary containing personalised feedback on how you performed on the tests, indicating where your mental strengths are. There also will be a link to follow-on studies that you may wish to take part in.
Some results of the Great British Wellbeing Survey so far
There was a 38% increase in the rate of people who reported feeling anxious more than once a week after the first national lockdown, and a 42% increase in the rate of people reporting feeling anxious every day after lockdown.
The highest anxiety levels were found in those in their late teens and early twenties. The group that saw the biggest increase after lockdown were older adults in their 70’s and 80’s, with a 60% increase in their anxiety score.
The proportion of women reporting feeling anxious several times a week rose from 27% before the first national lockdown to 38% after lockdown. For men, the rise was from 21% to 27%. For people who do not identify as either female or male, the rise was from 36% to 47%.
