Since the 2020 pandemic, poor mental health has been on the rise.
It’s now suggested that over 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health disorder each year in the UK. But, while so many suffer, funding and mental health services are still limited, with long wait times and limited treatment options.
The stigma around many mental health conditions remains and many aren’t able to get the help they need.
On this page, we’ve outlined UK-focused statistics of some of the most common mental health conditions.
17% of adults aged 16 years and over in Great Britain experienced some form of depression in summer 2021 . This is less than in early 2021 (21%) and November 2020 (19%). However, rates in summer 2021 remained higher than those observed before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, where 10% of adults experienced some form of depression - ONS 2021
Anxiety and panic attacks
Anxiety is the most common mental illness, affecting 40 million adults (19.1% of the population).
Anxiety is a highly treatable disorder but only 36.9% receive treatment.
Women are twice as likely to be affected by panic disorders than men.
People with anxiety disorders are 3-5x more likely to go to the doctor and 6x more likely to be hospitalised for psychiatric disorders than those who don’t suffer from anxiety disorders.
Mental health conditions increased from 17.4% in 2021 to 25.7% among 17 to 19 year olds, in 2022.
In 2022, mental health conditions among 7 to 10 year olds was nearly twice as high in boys (19.7%) as in girls (10.5%).
Mental health conditions among those aged 11 to 16 was nearly as high in boys (18.8%) and girls (22.0%).
Among 17 to 24 year olds, mental health conditions were much higher in young women (31.2%) than young men (13.3%).
Children with a mental health condition were more likely than those without to live in a home experiencing financial strain.
Among 17 to 22 year olds with a mental health condition, 14.8% reported living in a household that was unable to buy enough food or used a food bank in the past year.
28.6% of 7 to 16 year olds with a mental health condition lived in households that experienced a reduction in household income in the past year.
13.6% of children with a mental health condition lived in a household where they could not afford to keep the house warm enough.
The average waiting time for a first treatment for poor mental health was 21 days while the average waiting time between first and second treatment was 53 days. The total waiting time between referral and second treatment varied from a low of 30 days in Brent (London) to 182 days in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Workplace mental health
58% of employees are experiencing anxiety.
Only 10% of employees are diagnosed with anxiety.
34% of employees experiencing anxiety are aged 25-34.
62% of employees experiencing anxiety are female.
Only 9% of employees are seeking mental health support.
Nearly 1 in 4 employees met the criteria for “clinically relevant symptoms” of depression and would benefit from support from a qualified mental health professional.
40% of employee turnover costs are due to mental health issues.
Presenteeism (attending work whilst ill) is the highest reason for staff turnover.
50% of employees experienced at least one symptom of burnout (feeling of exhaustion, mental distance from their job, or decline in performance at work).
More than 36% of employees used mental health resources to help them manage their mental health.
61% of employees planned to leave their job due to poor mental health.
Men are less likely to seek professional support for mental health problems than women, just 28% of men access mental health support.
71% of people willing to talk to a mental health practitioner were women.
The types of support accessed by those surveyed were fairly evenly distributed between a wide range of solutions: counselling (28%), therapy (26%), life coaching (23%), executive coaching (12%), mindfulness (8%) and psychology (3%).
Non-traditional mental health offerings – life coaching, executive coaching and mindfulness – comprised a total of 46% of solutions accessed.
74% of respondents said they would take time off work without the mental health sessions.
Of those accessing mental health sessions, an overwhelming 65% were aged 18-34 years old, compared to just 22% of 35-44 year olds, and 13% aged over 45 years old.
MYNDUP’s approach has been proven to reduce stress, anxiety and depression in 97% of users and boost employee confidence, motivation and productivity in 99% of users.
Source: MYNDUP 2022
1 in 12 employees are currently experiencing thoughts of suicide or self-harm.
Employees experiencing financial stress are twice as likely to experience thoughts of suicide or self-harm.
17 million working days were lost due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2021/22.
The total numb.er of cases of work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2021/22 was 914,000.
In 2021/22 stress, depression or anxiety accounted for 51% of all work-related ill health cases and 55% of all working days lost due to work-related ill health.
55% of London residents say they feel lonely, making London the loneliest city in the world.
In the UK, statistics show that 14% of the population feels lonely all the time. Additionally, 36% of the population is too embarrassed to admit to feeling lonely during the holidays.
45% (25 million) of people in England feel lonely occasionally, sometimes, or often.
Half a million older people go at least five or six days a week without seeing or speaking to anyone at all.
The leading cause of PTSD is sexual violence at 33%, with 94% of rape victims developing symptoms of PTSD during the first two weeks after their traumatic experience.
30% of women raped still experience PTSD symptoms nine months after the incident.
75% of sexual assault survivors were diagnosed with PTSD a month after the incident. This drops to 54% after three months, and it further drops to 41% after a year.
6 weeks of cognitive behavioural therapy can help ease symptom severity by about 50% in 21% to 46% of patients with PTSD.
45 to 59-year-old adults are more affected by this mental illness than older adults above 60 years old.
More women suffer from PTSD than men.
People in the military are more prone to PTSD than civilians.
PTSD is most common among individuals between the ages of 45 and 59 years old at 9.2%, compared to individuals above the age of 60 years old at 2.8%.
Among adolescents, about 5% of those between 13 and 17 years old have PTSD.
30% of first responders have mental health problems such as PTSD, compared with the 20% of the general population.
The most common cause of stress is work-related stress with 79% saying they frequently felt it.
Women experience stress more frequently than men. On average, women in the UK say they feel stressed approximately ten days each month, whereas men say they experience stress for an average of seven days a month.
One in 14 UK adults (7%) feel stressed every single day.
1 in 5 people in the UK feel stressed more days a month than they don’t.
74% of people feel so stressed they have been overwhelmed or unable to cope.
46% of people say they eat too much or too unhealthily due to stress.
29% of people say that due to stress they started drinking or increased their drinking.
16% say that they started smoking or increased their smoking due to stress (Mental Health Foundation and YouGov).
51% of adults who felt stressed reported feeling depressed and 61% reported feeling anxious (Mental Health Foundation and YouGov).
Of those experiencing stress, 16% had self-harmed and 32% said they had experienced suicidal thoughts and feelings (Mental Health Foundation and YouGov).
37% of adults who reported feeling stressed also felt lonely as a result (Mental Health Foundation and YouGov).
That’s it for the round up of mental health statistics. What stood out most to us is that the wait time for treatment in some areas of England was as long as 182 days.
We hope you find these statistics useful. Reach out to us and let us know what you think!
Written by:
Sammy Taylor
Sammy founded beautybrainuk.com in 2019 whilst preparing for brain surgery as a way of incorporating daily motivational messages and inspiring a positive mindset despite hardships. Her mission is to inspire, empower and support others to overcome setbacks and challenges, and change negative mindsets towards events which are out of our control.
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information.