National survey finds Australians more worried about themselves than social issues

Australia’s foremost anxiety and emotional disorder support, treatment and research facility, the Centre for Emotional Health, and The Sydney Morning Herald have today announced the results from their national survey aimed at determining what worries Australians most.

Among the findings, Australians are far more worried about themselves than social issues.

Worrying about social issues was highest among the oldest category (age 60 years and up) and lowest with the young (younger than 30 years of age).

The study also compared states and found Western Australia to be the most worried about social issues. New South Wales placed sixth in the list of worriers. 

The survey also found that women counter their worry with positive activities, while men opt for negative one. Women do 'positive' activities like read, write in a journal or talk to someone when trying to control their worries, while men participate in 'negative' activities like drinking alcohol, hurting themselves (cut) or take non-prescription medicine when trying to control their worries.

The online survey looked at a broad range of categories including health, society, work and relationships to discover 'What Worries Australia'. This is the first major study of the everyday worries of Australians.