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MENTAL HEALTH

Mental health problems range from everyday worries to serious long-term conditions. Symptoms, treatment and recovery varies between each person: there is no one hard and fast rule for any particular mental health condition.

Although the majority of people who experience mental health difficulties at some point in their lives can get over them or learn to live with their conditions, there are a small minority for whom daily activities are severely disrupted by their mental health condition.

Types of mental health conditions can include:

  • Depression
  • Schizophrenia
  • Stress
  • Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa
  • Bipolar disorder

Some interesting statistics on mental health in the UK

  • 1 in 4 British adults experience at least one diagnosable mental health problem in any one year, and one in six experiences this at any given time. (The Office for National Statistics Psychiatric Morbidity report (2001))

  • Although mental disorders are widespread, serious cases are concentrated among a relatively small proportion of people who experience more than one mental health problem (this is known as ‘co-morbidity’).(The British Journal of Psychiatry (2005))

  • Mixed anxiety & depression is the most common mental disorder in Britain, with almost 9 percent of people meeting criteria for diagnosis. (The Office for National Statistics Psychiatric Morbidity report (2001))

  • Between 8-12% of the population experience depression in any year (The Office for National Statistics Psychiatric Morbidity report (2001))

  • About half of people with common mental health problems are no longer affected after 18 months, but poorer people, the long-term sick and unemployed people are more likely to be still affected than the general population. (Better Or Worse: A Longitudinal Study Of The Mental Health Of Adults In Great Britain, National Statistics (2003))

  • Women are more likely to have been treated for a mental health problem than men (29% compared to 17%).This could be because, when asked, women are more likely to report symptoms of common mental health problems. (Better Or Worse: A Longitudinal Study Of The Mental Health Of Adults In Great Britain, National Statistics (2003))

  • Depression is more common in women than men. 1 in 4 women will require treatment for depression at some time, compared to 1 in 10 men. The reasons for this are unclear, but are thought to be due to both social and biological factors. It has also been suggested that depression in men may have been under diagnosed because they present to their GP with different symptoms. (National Institute For Clinical Excellence (2003))

  • Women are twice as likely to experience anxiety as men. Of people with phobias or OCD, about 60% are female. (The Office for National Statistics Psychiatric Morbidity report (2001))

  • Men are more likely than women to have an alcohol or drug problem. 67% of British people who consume alcohol at ‘hazardous’ levels, and 80% of those dependent on alcohol are male. Almost three quarters of people dependent on cannabis and 69% of those dependent on other illegal drugs are male. (The Office for National Statistics Psychiatric Morbidity report (2001))

  • In general, rates of mental health problems are thought to be higher in minority ethnic groups than in the white population, but they are less likely to have their mental health problems detected by a GP. (Inside Outside: Improving Mental Health Services For Black and Minority Ethnic Communities in England, National Institute For Mental Health In England (2003))

  • One in four unemployed people has a common mental health problem. (The Office for National Statistics Psychiatric Morbidity report (2001))

Statistics published here

image credit ephotography

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