SWS: 38% of adult Filipinos rate mental health as 'fair'

Around four in 10 adult Filipinos rated their mental health as “fair” in September 2026, unchanged from the results of a November 2025 survey by Social Weather Stations (SWS).

In survey results released on Friday, a day before the observance of World Mental Health Day, 38% of respondents rated their mental health as “fair,” 31% as “good,” 18% as “excellent,” 12% as “very good,” and 2% as “poor.”

“Compared to November 2025, those rating their mental health as excellent fell by 2 points from 20%, and those rating it very good fell by 1 point from 13%. Those rating it good rose by 3 points from 28%, while those rating it fair stayed at 38%. Those rating it poor hardly moved from 1%,” SWS said.

The Visayas recorded the highest proportion of respondents who rated their mental health as “fair,” at 45%, down from 52% in November 2025. This was followed by Mindanao at 41%, from 46%, and Metro Manila and Balance Luzon at 34% each, up from 31% and 29%, respectively.

Meanwhile, 37% of men and 38% of women rated their mental health as “fair,” both unchanged from November 2025.

“Among men, excellent ratings fell from 21% in November 2025 to 18%, while very good ratings hardly moved from 11% to 12%. Among women, excellent ratings fell from 19% to 17%, and very good ratings from 15% to 12%,” SWS said.

The survey firm also found that adults aged 55 and above were the least likely to rate their mental health as “excellent,” while college graduates were the most likely to do so.

Openness about mental health

The September 2026 survey found that most respondents agreed that being open about mental health challenges helps people understand them. Some 72% agreed with the statement, while 15% disagreed and 13% were undecided.

“Net agreement was extremely strong in Metro Manila at +72 and in Balance Luzon at +65, and very strong in the Visayas at +46 and in Mindanao at +40,” SWS said.

Net agreement was also extremely strong among both sexes, with women recording a higher score of +62 compared to +51 among men, it added.

Similarly, 78% of respondents agreed that sharing personal mental health experiences helps others feel they are not alone. Meanwhile, 11% disagreed and 11% were undecided.

Net agreement was extremely strong across all areas, reaching +75 in Metro Manila, +68 in Balance Luzon, +66 in Mindanao, and +61 in the Visayas, according to SWS.

Support

Parents remained the top choice for adult Filipinos seeking support during mental health struggles, although the proportion who would turn to them fell to 29%, down 24 percentage points from November 2021.

Other respondents said they would first approach their partners (27%), siblings (11%), local government officials (11%), and mental health professionals (10%). Smaller proportions would turn to religious persons (3%), their children (2%), and friends (2%), among others.

In Metro Manila, partners emerged as the top choice for support.

“Fewer adult Filipinos in every area would first approach their parents than in November 2021. In Metro Manila, 36% would first approach their partner, compared to 23% who would approach their parents (down from 45%),” SWS said.

“Reliance on parents fell from 60% to 32% in Mindanao, from 54% to 27% in the Visayas, and from 52% to 30% in Balance Luzon,” it added.

The SWS survey was conducted from September 21 to 27, 2026, through face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults aged 18 and above nationwide. The respondents included 300 from Metro Manila, 600 from Balance Luzon, or Luzon outside Metro Manila, and 300 each from the Visayas and Mindanao.

The survey had sampling error margins of ±3 percentage points for national percentages, ±4 points for Balance Luzon, and ±6 points each for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao. — VBL, GMA News