Argentina: “The most anxious of Latin America and the fourth more nervous country in the world”

Note published by BBC World, about the anxieties of the Argentinean people:

‘The ball wasn’t kicked yet, but a huge number of Argentines is concerned about the fate of the national team in the next World Cup, which starts in two weeks.

And football is not all that concerns people in the country of Maradona. The fear of insecurity, fear of illness or job loss, or even the possibility that a sudden hailstorm destroys their car …

A number of concerns frighten the Argentines and make Argentina the country with higher levels of anxiety in Latin America and the fourth most nervous of the world.

This was revealed by a global survey conducted by the consultancy JWT Sonar.
According to the survey, eight out of ten Argentines, 79% of the population, suffers from anxiety.

In contrast, 66% of Brazilians suffer from the problem, and 58% of Colombians. Those closest to the Argentines are the Mexicans, because three quarters of the population (78%) also lives worried.

But while the drug-related violence may explain why so many of the Mexicans feel nervous, it costs a little more to understand what concerns Argentines.

According to the American journalist Joe Goldman for ABC, who for more than two decades has been studying the Argentine society, the many economic and social vicissitudes that the country has seen explain the phenomenon.

“It is not natural that with so many sudden ups and downs people behave more neurotic” He told to the BBC World.

For Goldman, that nervousness explains why Argentina is the country with more psychologists in the world.

Experts consulted agreed that most patients who come to clinics seek to deal with anxiety disorders.

This condition causes stress to them and causes them distress and suffering, which can disrupt family relationships.

But despite their high levels of anxiety, Argentines are not the most nervous of the world.

That dubious distinction belongs to the Japanese. According to JWT’s global ranking, the vast majority of their population (90%) lives worried.

Meanwhile, the people of Russia and Saudi Arabia also have higher anxiety levels than the South American country, with rates of 84% and 82% respectively.

According to the director general of planning at JWT Argentina, Gonzalo Fonseca, several factors explain these results.

“The Japanese are anxious about the lack of political leadership and the fiscal deficit of the economy, the Russian people have high cost of living and the Arabs the possibility of attacks,” he said.

The less anxious in the world are Chinese (35%) and France (42%), according to the survey, which collected the opinions of 8,000 people in a dozen countries.

Beyond the numbers, experts agree on one thing: increased symptoms of anxiety is a growing global trend and is closely related to model changes-from the social to the technological-and by the fear generated by the uncertainty of not knowing what will happen. “