Dutch public plagued by anxiety

27 April 2004

AMSTERDAM — Eight out of every ten people in the Netherlands worry about contracting a serious illness, a new survey has revealed.

Almost mirroring this figure, 78 percent of Dutch people worry about losing a partner or a pet to illness. The third major anxiety – shared by 74 percent of the public – is the fear of suffering a heart attack.

These are the main findings of the “anxieties and worries in the Netherlands” report carried out by Dutch polling agency Trendbox for Reader’s Digest magazine.

People taking part in the study were asked to name the top 10 worries that keep them away at night.

Worries about the personal health and the health of others came tops, while 63 percent worried about putting on weight, 61 percent worried about memory loss and 56 percent were anxious about the prospect of “getting older and uglier”.

This was followed by concerns about burglary (75 percent) and being involved in a traffic accident (69 percent).

Seven out of every 10 people were worried that they would not be able to make ends meet in the current weak economic climate and 60 percent were concerned about the prospect of income loss.

Another major concern identified by the study was committing a faux pas in public, with 65 percent worried about making a blunder in front of other people.

Some 64 percent were anxious about being seen by their peers to fail at a task or fall from grace.

Anxiety psychologist Jan van den Berg told Trendbox the fear of failure was a rising trend because of the increasingly high demands being placed on people in today’s society.

“Mental stress is a consequence of increasing work pressures. Our jobs have become far more complicated and involved,” he said.

Subject: Dutch news + worry