Mental Health Stastics
Statistics from the Mental Health Foundation ("The Fundamental Facts" report) state:
1 in 4 people in the UK will suffer a mental health issue in the course of a year, which equates to 15 million people.
Mixed anxiety and depression is the most common mental health issue in the UK.
For 1 in 5 of the people who have depression, the condition is chronic.
Postnatal depression affects 12% of women.
14% of people will suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after encountering a traumatic event.
‘Psychosis’ describes a loss of touch with reality, which may include hearing voices, seeing something that no one else sees, holding unusual personally derived beliefs, experiencing changes in perception or assigning personal meanings to everyday objects. Less than a quarter of people who have distressing psychotic experiences at some time in their lives remain permanently affected by them and 4.4% of people in the general population say they have experienced at least one symptom of psychosis such as delusions or hallucinations. Paranoid thoughts are the most commonly reported symptom.
5% of the UK population fit the criteria for a personality disorder. Personality disorder is used to diagnose a person who has difficulty coping with life and whose behaviour persistently causes distress to themselves or others. Personality disorders are characterised by long-lasting rigid patterns of thought and behaviour. The attitudes of people with a disorder usually exaggerate part of their personality and result in behaviour at odds with expectations of what is regarded as normal.
3% of people will suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in their lifetime. It typically takes people up to 10 years to seek help for this condition.
2% of the UK population currently suffer from serious phobias.
Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is associated with severe mood changes that fluctuate from elation, overactivity and sometimes psychosis (together known as mania or hypomania) to a lowering of mood and decreased energy and activity (depression). It is diagnosed after at least two episodes in which a person’s mood and activity levels are significantly disturbed. During a phase of ‘mania’, people may exhibit grandiose ideas (an inflated belief in their own power, knowledge or relationship to important people or deities), an inflated sense of self esteem, a reduced need for sleep and impaired concentration and judgment. 2% of the adult population experience a bipolar disorder at some point in their lives.
Schizophrenia refers to a group of symptoms, typically the presence of hallucinations, delusions, disordered thought, and problems with feelings, behaviour, motivation and speech. When they occur together they represent a severe mental illness. Schizophrenia is the most common form of psychotic disorder, affecting between 1.1% and 2.4% of people at any one time. After a first episode, approximately 25% of people with schizophrenia make a full recovery and experience no further episodes. Between 10 and 15% will experience severe long-term difficulties.
Symptoms of eating disorders include severely reduced eating, intense fear of weight gain, and self perception that is overly influenced by weight or body shape. They also include significant levels of self-induced vomiting, laxative abuse and strenuous exercise for weight control. 1.9% of women and 0.2% of men experience anorexia in any year. Anorexia is characterised by a failure to gain weight in relation to age, or excessive loss of weight, through avoiding food. In some cases death can occur because of the physical consequences of persistent starvation. Usually, the condition lasts for about 6 years. Between 0.5% and 1% of young women experience bulimia at any one time. The most common age of onset is in teenage years and early 30s. Bulimia also involves a preoccupation with food but is characterised by episodes of intense binge eating, preceded and followed by periods of starvation and/or self-induced vomiting and purging.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is often used to describe children who display overactive (hyperactive) and impulsive behaviour and who have difficulty in paying attention. A lack of consensus on the definition of, and criteria for, ADHD has produced widely divergent estimates of prevalence rate, varying between 0.5% and 26% of children.
Dementia is a progressive and largely irreversible condition that involves widespread damage to mental functioning. Someone with dementia may experience memory loss, language impairment, disorientation, change in personality, difficulties with daily living, self neglect, and behaviour which is out of character (for example, aggression, sleep disturbance or sexual disinhibition). Dementia affects 5% of people over the age of 65 and 20% of those over 80. About 700,000 people in the UK have dementia (1.2% of the population) at any one time. Dementia is uncommon before the age of 65, but does affect 1 in 1,000 younger people. About 60% of dementia cases are caused by Alzheimer’s disease. About a fifth of cases of dementia are related to strokes or insufficient blood flow to the brain, these cases being known as vascular dementia.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a form of depression that affects approximately 0.8% of the population at some point in their lives.
2 out of 3 people who commit suicide in the UK were diagnosed with a mental health issue. The suicide rate in Scotland is twice that of the UK and the rest of Europe.
Deliberate self-harm ranges from destructive behaviours with no suicidal intent, but which relieve tension or communicate distress, through to attempted suicide. The UK has one of the highest rates of self-harm in Europe, at 400 per 100,000 population. 2 out of 3 people who self-hard have depression.
67% of people with a mental health issue believe that work related stress caused or exacerbated their mental health issues.
Only 5% of people who have a mental health issue in the UK are treated by a psychologist or psychiatrist in the NHS, but 82% of people with a mental health issue would be open to trying psychotherapy. About 15% of people with a mental health issue pay for private treatment from a psychotherapist or counsellor. Approximately 1 in 2 people with a mental health issue pay for private treatment, such as complimentary therapies, natural medicines, self-help books/courses and psychotherapy. 58% of people with mental health issues feel they are missing out on help because they can't afford it, most commonly referring to access to psychotherapy.
55% of GPs believe that psychotherapy is the most effective treatment for mild or moderate depression. Only 32% of GPs prescribe psychotherapy such as cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) mostly due to its lack of availability or waiting times through the NHS. 57% of GPs believe the antidepressants are over prescribed and 78% of GPs admit to having prescribed antidepressants in the last 3 years knowing it wasn't the best course of treatment for the patient, but did so due to the lack of availability of the best course of treatment.
The relapse rate for people recovering from anxiety or depression is less for people who have undertaken cognitive behaviour therapy than those who have undertaken medication alone.
81% of people who tried exercise as a therapy to overcome depression found it very effective.
It is calculated that in the UK, the economic and social costs of mental health problems in 2003/04 was £98 billion (£17 billion on health and social care, £28.3 billion in costs to the economy and £53.1 billion in human costs). The economic and social cost of mental health problems is therefore greater than that of crime (estimated at £60 billion for England and Wales in 1999/2000), and larger than the total amount spent on all NHS and social services (£95.2 billion in the UK in 2003/04). The World Health Organisation estimates that the cost of mental health problems in developed countries is between 3 and 4% of Gross National Product. In the UK this is estimated to be 2% of GDP, comprising the costs of public spending on health and social care and loss of paid work.
70% of managers in the workplace have had experience of working with a staff member with mental health issues, but only 18% of managers feel that they know how to deal with staff who have a mental health issue.
Stress, anxiety and depression accounts for a third of the 168 million working days lost in the UK through absence. Each case of stress related absence leads to an average of 31 working days lost.
50% of people with a mental health issue are limited by their condition and 20% are disabled by it.
Aproximately 2 million of the working population in the UK are currently taking psychiatric drugs.
People who have been abused at some point in their life are five times more likely to develop a mental health issue.
1 in 4 people in the UK will suffer a mental health issue in the course of a year, which equates to 15 million people.
Mixed anxiety and depression is the most common mental health issue in the UK.
For 1 in 5 of the people who have depression, the condition is chronic.
Postnatal depression affects 12% of women.
14% of people will suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after encountering a traumatic event.
‘Psychosis’ describes a loss of touch with reality, which may include hearing voices, seeing something that no one else sees, holding unusual personally derived beliefs, experiencing changes in perception or assigning personal meanings to everyday objects. Less than a quarter of people who have distressing psychotic experiences at some time in their lives remain permanently affected by them and 4.4% of people in the general population say they have experienced at least one symptom of psychosis such as delusions or hallucinations. Paranoid thoughts are the most commonly reported symptom.
5% of the UK population fit the criteria for a personality disorder. Personality disorder is used to diagnose a person who has difficulty coping with life and whose behaviour persistently causes distress to themselves or others. Personality disorders are characterised by long-lasting rigid patterns of thought and behaviour. The attitudes of people with a disorder usually exaggerate part of their personality and result in behaviour at odds with expectations of what is regarded as normal.
3% of people will suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in their lifetime. It typically takes people up to 10 years to seek help for this condition.
2% of the UK population currently suffer from serious phobias.
Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is associated with severe mood changes that fluctuate from elation, overactivity and sometimes psychosis (together known as mania or hypomania) to a lowering of mood and decreased energy and activity (depression). It is diagnosed after at least two episodes in which a person’s mood and activity levels are significantly disturbed. During a phase of ‘mania’, people may exhibit grandiose ideas (an inflated belief in their own power, knowledge or relationship to important people or deities), an inflated sense of self esteem, a reduced need for sleep and impaired concentration and judgment. 2% of the adult population experience a bipolar disorder at some point in their lives.
Schizophrenia refers to a group of symptoms, typically the presence of hallucinations, delusions, disordered thought, and problems with feelings, behaviour, motivation and speech. When they occur together they represent a severe mental illness. Schizophrenia is the most common form of psychotic disorder, affecting between 1.1% and 2.4% of people at any one time. After a first episode, approximately 25% of people with schizophrenia make a full recovery and experience no further episodes. Between 10 and 15% will experience severe long-term difficulties.
Symptoms of eating disorders include severely reduced eating, intense fear of weight gain, and self perception that is overly influenced by weight or body shape. They also include significant levels of self-induced vomiting, laxative abuse and strenuous exercise for weight control. 1.9% of women and 0.2% of men experience anorexia in any year. Anorexia is characterised by a failure to gain weight in relation to age, or excessive loss of weight, through avoiding food. In some cases death can occur because of the physical consequences of persistent starvation. Usually, the condition lasts for about 6 years. Between 0.5% and 1% of young women experience bulimia at any one time. The most common age of onset is in teenage years and early 30s. Bulimia also involves a preoccupation with food but is characterised by episodes of intense binge eating, preceded and followed by periods of starvation and/or self-induced vomiting and purging.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is often used to describe children who display overactive (hyperactive) and impulsive behaviour and who have difficulty in paying attention. A lack of consensus on the definition of, and criteria for, ADHD has produced widely divergent estimates of prevalence rate, varying between 0.5% and 26% of children.
Dementia is a progressive and largely irreversible condition that involves widespread damage to mental functioning. Someone with dementia may experience memory loss, language impairment, disorientation, change in personality, difficulties with daily living, self neglect, and behaviour which is out of character (for example, aggression, sleep disturbance or sexual disinhibition). Dementia affects 5% of people over the age of 65 and 20% of those over 80. About 700,000 people in the UK have dementia (1.2% of the population) at any one time. Dementia is uncommon before the age of 65, but does affect 1 in 1,000 younger people. About 60% of dementia cases are caused by Alzheimer’s disease. About a fifth of cases of dementia are related to strokes or insufficient blood flow to the brain, these cases being known as vascular dementia.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a form of depression that affects approximately 0.8% of the population at some point in their lives.
2 out of 3 people who commit suicide in the UK were diagnosed with a mental health issue. The suicide rate in Scotland is twice that of the UK and the rest of Europe.
Deliberate self-harm ranges from destructive behaviours with no suicidal intent, but which relieve tension or communicate distress, through to attempted suicide. The UK has one of the highest rates of self-harm in Europe, at 400 per 100,000 population. 2 out of 3 people who self-hard have depression.
67% of people with a mental health issue believe that work related stress caused or exacerbated their mental health issues.
Only 5% of people who have a mental health issue in the UK are treated by a psychologist or psychiatrist in the NHS, but 82% of people with a mental health issue would be open to trying psychotherapy. About 15% of people with a mental health issue pay for private treatment from a psychotherapist or counsellor. Approximately 1 in 2 people with a mental health issue pay for private treatment, such as complimentary therapies, natural medicines, self-help books/courses and psychotherapy. 58% of people with mental health issues feel they are missing out on help because they can't afford it, most commonly referring to access to psychotherapy.
55% of GPs believe that psychotherapy is the most effective treatment for mild or moderate depression. Only 32% of GPs prescribe psychotherapy such as cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) mostly due to its lack of availability or waiting times through the NHS. 57% of GPs believe the antidepressants are over prescribed and 78% of GPs admit to having prescribed antidepressants in the last 3 years knowing it wasn't the best course of treatment for the patient, but did so due to the lack of availability of the best course of treatment.
The relapse rate for people recovering from anxiety or depression is less for people who have undertaken cognitive behaviour therapy than those who have undertaken medication alone.
81% of people who tried exercise as a therapy to overcome depression found it very effective.
It is calculated that in the UK, the economic and social costs of mental health problems in 2003/04 was £98 billion (£17 billion on health and social care, £28.3 billion in costs to the economy and £53.1 billion in human costs). The economic and social cost of mental health problems is therefore greater than that of crime (estimated at £60 billion for England and Wales in 1999/2000), and larger than the total amount spent on all NHS and social services (£95.2 billion in the UK in 2003/04). The World Health Organisation estimates that the cost of mental health problems in developed countries is between 3 and 4% of Gross National Product. In the UK this is estimated to be 2% of GDP, comprising the costs of public spending on health and social care and loss of paid work.
70% of managers in the workplace have had experience of working with a staff member with mental health issues, but only 18% of managers feel that they know how to deal with staff who have a mental health issue.
Stress, anxiety and depression accounts for a third of the 168 million working days lost in the UK through absence. Each case of stress related absence leads to an average of 31 working days lost.
50% of people with a mental health issue are limited by their condition and 20% are disabled by it.
Aproximately 2 million of the working population in the UK are currently taking psychiatric drugs.
People who have been abused at some point in their life are five times more likely to develop a mental health issue.
Here are some statistics on mental health in the UK, taken from the Mental Health Network NHS Confederation factsheet, January 2014:
The proportion of the UK population aged between 16 and 64 that currently meet the criteria of a mental health issue is 18%, however, not all of these people have been diagnosed.
10% of young people aged 5 to 16 have been diagnosed with a mental health issue.
There has been a 16% increase in the number of child and adolescent NHS inpatients in the last year. This number has doubled since 2000.
Household income correlates strongly with mental health issues in that 24% of households in the lowest income brackets have someone suffering with a current mental health issue, whereas only 9% of households in the highest income bracket had someone suffering from a current mental health issue.
0.4% of the UK population have a psychotic disorder.
There has been a 16% increase in demand for mental health crisis services in the last year.
There has been a 9% increase in the number of NHS inpatients being subject to the Mental Health Act in the last year.
Investment in mental health services by the NHS has dropped 1% in real terms in the last year.
People with a mental health issue are twice as likely to die from coronary heart disease, four times as likely to die from a respiratory disease and are more likely to be overweight than the general population.
70% of homeless people suffer from a mental health issue.
50% of our prison population have a mental health issue.
The proportion of the UK population aged between 16 and 64 that currently meet the criteria of a mental health issue is 18%, however, not all of these people have been diagnosed.
10% of young people aged 5 to 16 have been diagnosed with a mental health issue.
There has been a 16% increase in the number of child and adolescent NHS inpatients in the last year. This number has doubled since 2000.
Household income correlates strongly with mental health issues in that 24% of households in the lowest income brackets have someone suffering with a current mental health issue, whereas only 9% of households in the highest income bracket had someone suffering from a current mental health issue.
0.4% of the UK population have a psychotic disorder.
There has been a 16% increase in demand for mental health crisis services in the last year.
There has been a 9% increase in the number of NHS inpatients being subject to the Mental Health Act in the last year.
Investment in mental health services by the NHS has dropped 1% in real terms in the last year.
People with a mental health issue are twice as likely to die from coronary heart disease, four times as likely to die from a respiratory disease and are more likely to be overweight than the general population.
70% of homeless people suffer from a mental health issue.
50% of our prison population have a mental health issue.
The latest statistics from the Scottish Government reveal:
In 2015, that 15% of the Scottish population were prescribed antidepressant medication (814,181 people).
The current NHS target for a patient to recieve treatment from a mental health care provider from time of referral is 18 weeks. At present, 18% (1 in 5 people) are having to wait 19-44 weeks to start their treatment.
UK Statistics From The National Institute For Health Research (December 2012 report "Cognitive behavioural therapy as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy for primary care based patients with treatment resistant depression: results of the CoBalT randomised controlled trial"):
People who received CBT in addition to antidepressants, rather than continuing to receive antidepressants alone, have around a three-fold increased chance of responding to treatment and having a reduction in their depression symptoms over the following 12 months.
Only one third of patients with depression respond well to antidepressant medications.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recommended CBT's use for the treatment of depression (as well as a number of other mental health conditions).
In 2015, that 15% of the Scottish population were prescribed antidepressant medication (814,181 people).
The current NHS target for a patient to recieve treatment from a mental health care provider from time of referral is 18 weeks. At present, 18% (1 in 5 people) are having to wait 19-44 weeks to start their treatment.
UK Statistics From The National Institute For Health Research (December 2012 report "Cognitive behavioural therapy as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy for primary care based patients with treatment resistant depression: results of the CoBalT randomised controlled trial"):
People who received CBT in addition to antidepressants, rather than continuing to receive antidepressants alone, have around a three-fold increased chance of responding to treatment and having a reduction in their depression symptoms over the following 12 months.
Only one third of patients with depression respond well to antidepressant medications.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recommended CBT's use for the treatment of depression (as well as a number of other mental health conditions).
