Measuring, Modeling, and Forecasting the Mental Wealth of Nations

Area of Science:

• Socioeconomic impacts of public health crises
• Systems science and public policy
• Economic and social determinants of mental health

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic revealed vulnerabilities in interconnected economic, health, and social systems.
• There is growing interest in metrics beyond Gross Domestic Product (GDP), such as human, brain, and mental capital, for economic recovery.
• Mental Wealth offers a framework for assessing and guiding social and economic renewal.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose systems modeling for forecasting national Mental Wealth.
• To evaluate how policy interventions across sectors can improve mental health, wellbeing, and social cohesion.
• To provide decision support for investments aimed at fostering national Mental Wealth.

Main Methods:

• Application of transdisciplinary systems modeling.
• Simulation of cross-sector strategies (education, mental health, labor, macroeconomics).
• Forecasting impacts on GDP and national Mental Wealth.

Main Results:

• Simulation allows comparison of policy impacts on GDP and Mental Wealth.
• Identifies potential for policy-mediated enhancements in collective wellbeing and social cohesion.
• Demonstrates decision support capabilities for strategic investments.

Conclusions:

• Mental Wealth provides a crucial framework for measuring and shaping socioeconomic renewal.
• Systems modeling can forecast the effects of policy interventions on national wellbeing and prosperity.
• The Mental Wealth Initiative uses complex systems science to explore determinants of mental health and challenge economic-social dichotomies.