Greatest fear is terrorism

TERRORISM and immigration are people’s greatest fear according to a new survey.

The poll also shows that one in seven adults (15 per cent) is reluctant to have children and one in four (27 per cent) less inclined to plan for the future because of world troubles.

Terrorism is people’s greatest fear - 70 per cent say they are most worried about that, while immigration worries 58 per cent of people.

Environmental issues are less of a concern - only a third are worried about climate change (38 per cent) and a quarter by the threat of a natural disaster (23 per cent).

The YouGov survey, commissioned by the Mental Health Foundation ahead of World Mental Health Day on Wednesday, found that world events left some people feeling powerless (56 per cent), angry (50 per cent), anxious (35 per cent) and depressed (26 per cent).

To help cope with their worries, more than a third of respondents said they sought to find out more about an issue (38 per cent).

Almost the same number said that talking to family and friends provided relief (33 per cent).

A quarter said voting helped, while 12 per cent found comfort in a religious or spiritual belief.

Clinical psychologist Dr Michael Reddy said: “As social animals, we are sensitive to dangers from other humans that are intentional, such as terrorism.

“Accidental dangers, such as natural disasters, fail to motivate us in the same way.

“Immigration ranks highly as a worry because humans identify themselves as belonging to particular groups who share the same values and codes of behaviour this is one of our main ways of feeling secure."

from

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article313015.ece