Mental health conditions are much more common than you might think. Around one in four people are estimated to be affected by mental health problems in Scotland in any one year (2). And the effects of the pandemic are likely to have intensified this. The figures can be a little daunting, but they should also reassure anyone worried about mental health problems that they are not alone.
The good news is that the increase in awareness of the scale of the mental health problem in Scotland and the UK is creating a growing understanding of the issue. Gradually, the stigma attached to mental ill-health is being lost and more and more people are talking about their problems. This can only be a good thing and as more people reach out for help, the closer they are to living happier and more fulfilling lives.
Below we have listed some of the numbers around mental health that help to show the scale of the problem and how it affects people.
General statistics
- It is estimated that 1 in 6 people in the past week experienced a common mental health problem (1)
- Mixed anxiety and depression have been estimated to cause one-fifth of days lost from work in Britain. (1)
- One adult in six has experienced a common mental disorder. (2)
- Mixed anxiety & depression is the most common mental disorder in Britain, with 7.8% of people meeting the criteria for diagnosis. (1)
- There are over 900,000 people living with dementia in the UK and this is set to rise to over one million by 2025. (3)
- Around 1.25 million people in the UK suffer from eating disorders, although many keep them secret. (4)
Young people
- One in six children aged five to 16 were identified as having a probable mental health problem in 2021. That’s five children in every classroom (5)
- 10% of young people are thought to self-harm (5)
- 1 in 3 mental health problems in adulthood are directly connected to an adverse childhood experience. (3)
Mental Health inequality
- Adults living in the most deprived areas are approximately twice as likely to have common mental health problems as those in the least deprived areas (22% versus 11%) (6)
- There were twice as many GP consultations for anxiety in areas of deprivation than in more affluent areas in Scotland (62 versus 28 consultations per 1000 patients in 2010-2011). (6)
- People who are poorer and more disadvantaged are disproportionately affected by common mental health problems and the issues they can cause. (1)
Suicide
- In the UK in 2019, 6,524 people took their own lives. (1)
- There were 805 probable suicides registered in Scotland in 2020, which is a decrease from 833 in 2019. (7)
- Just under three-quarters (71.4%) of people who died by suicide in 2020 were male (575 males, 230 females). (7)
- Males aged 45 to 49 years had the highest suicide rate (27.1 deaths per 100,000 males); for females, the age group with the highest rate was also 45 to 49 years, at 9.2 deaths per 100,000. (8)
- Among men aged 20-34, suicide was the leading cause of death in England and Wales, accounting for one-quarter of all deaths in that age group registered in 2020. (9)
Sources
- Mentalhealth.org.uk
- Mind.org.uk
- NHS.uk
- Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2021Report
- Youngminds.org.uk
- Health Scotland
- Publichealthscotland.scot
- ONS – Suicides in the UK: 2018 registrations
- Suicide: summary of statistics – UK Parliament