Mental health statistics


Here is a list of up to date statistics about a range of mental health topics. This list will be updated as key reports are released throughout the year.

On this page you can also download the statistics pack to go with your MHFA England course manual.

Statistics by topic

Click to jump to topic area:

Perceptions of mental ill health
The impact of mental ill health
Disability rankings
Mental ill health in the workplace
Mental ill health in higher education students
Depression
Anxiety
Suicide
Self-harm
Eating disorders
Psychosis and schizophrenia
Bipolar disorder
Personality disorders
Alcohol, drugs and mental health

Statistics packs for MHFA England courses

Perceptions of mental ill health

  • Over a third of the public think people with a mental health issue are likely to be violent (1)

  • People with severe mental illness are more likely to be the victims, rather than the perpetrators, of violent crime (2–4)

  • People with mental ill health are more dangerous to themselves than to others: 80-90% of people who die by suicide are experiencing mental distress (5,6) 

  • Poor mental health impacts on individuals and their families, in lost income, lower educational attainment, quality of life and a much shorter life span (7,8)

  1. Time to Change. Attitudes to Mental Illness 2014 Research Report [Internet]. 2015. Available from: time-to-change.org.uk

  2. Khalifeh H, Johnson S, Howard LM, Borschmann R, Osborn D, Dean K, et al. Violent and non-violent crime against adults with severe mental illness. Br J Psychiatry [Internet]. 2015 Apr 1 [cited 2016 Dec 2];206(4):275–82. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  3. Latalova K, Kamaradova D, Prasko J. Violent victimization of adult patients with severe mental illness: a systematic review. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2018 Jun 26];10:1925–39. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  4. de Vries B, van Busschbach JT, van der Stouwe ECD, Aleman A, van Dijk JJM, Lysaker PH, et al. Prevalence rate and risk factors of victimization in adult patients with a psychotic disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Schizophr Bull [Internet]. 2018 Mar 14 [cited 2018 Jun 26]; Available from: academic.oup.com

  5. Cavanagh JTO, Carson AJ, Sharpe M, Lawrie SM. Psychological autopsy studies of suicide: a systematic review. Psychol Med [Internet]. 2003 Apr [cited 2016 Dec 1];33(3):395–405. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  6. Cho S-E, Na K-S, Cho S-J, Im J-S, Kang S-G. Geographical and temporal variations in the prevalence of mental disorders in suicide: Systematic review and meta-analysis. J Affect Disord [Internet]. 2016 Jan 15 [cited 2018 May 9];190:704–13. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  7. World Health Organization. Investing in mental health: evidence for action [Internet]. 2013. Available from: apps.who.int

  8. Kang H-J, Kim S-Y, Bae K-Y, Kim S-W, Shin I-S, Yoon J-S, et al. Comorbidity of depression with physical disorders: research and clinical implications. Chonnam Med J [Internet]. 2015 Apr [cited 2016 Dec 1];51(1):8–18. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The impact of mental ill health

  • 1 in 4 people experience mental health issues each year (1)

  • 676 million people are affected by mental health issues worldwide (2)

  • At any given time, 1 in 6 working-age adults have symptoms associated with mental ill health (3)

  • Mental illness is the largest single source of burden of disease in the UK. Mental illnesses are more common, long-lasting and impactful than other health conditions (4)

  • Mental ill health is responsible for 72 million working days lost and costs £34.9 billion each year (5)
    NB: Different studies will estimate the cost of mental ill health in different ways. Other reputable research estimates this cost to be as high as £74–£99 billion (6)

  • The total cost of mental ill health in England is estimated at £105 billion per year (1)

  • People with a long-term mental health condition lose their jobs every year at around double the rate of those without a mental health condition. This equates to 300,000 people – the equivalent of the population of Newcastle or Belfast (6)

  • 75% of mental illness (excluding dementia) starts before age 18 (4)
    NB: Dementia is more accurately described as a progressive neurological disorder (a condition affecting the brain’s structure and subsequent function over time), and typically does not occur before the age of 30

  • Men aged 40-49 have the highest suicide rates in Great Britain (7)

  • 70-75% of people with diagnosable mental illness receive no treatment at all (4,8,9)

  1. Mental Health Taskforce NE. The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health. 2016 [cited 2017 May 23]; Available from: england.nhs.uk

  2. World Health Organization. Health in 2015: from MDGs, Millennium Development Goals to SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals [Internet]. 2015. Available from: apps.who.int

  3. McManus S, Bebbington P, Jenkins R, Brugha T. Mental health and wellbeing in England: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014 [Internet]. Leeds; 2016. Available from: content.digital.nhs.uk

  4. Davies SC. Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer 2013, Public Mental Health Priorities: Investing in the Evidence [Internet]. 2014. Available from: gov.uk

  5. Centre for Mental Health. Mental health at work: The business costs ten years on [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2017 Oct 16]. Available from: centreformentalhealth.org.uk

  6. Stevenson D, Farmer P. Thriving at work: The Independent Review of Mental Health and Employers [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2017 Nov 22]. Available from: gov.uk

  7. Office for National Statistics. Suicides in Great Britain: 2016 registrations [Internet]. 2017. Available from: ons.gov.uk

  8. Alonso J, Liu Z, Evans-Lacko S, Sadikova E, Sampson N, Chatterji S, et al. Treatment gap for anxiety disorders is global: Results of the World Mental Health Surveys in 21 countries. Depress Anxiety [Internet]. 2018 Mar [cited 2018 Jun 26];35(3):195–208. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  9. Evans-Lacko S, Aguilar-Gaxiola S, Al-Hamzawi A, Alonso J, Benjet C, Bruffaerts R, et al. Socio-economic variations in the mental health treatment gap for people with anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders: results from the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) surveys. Psychol Med [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2018 Jun 26];1–12. Available from: kclpure.kcl.ac.uk
     

Disability rankings

These figures draw from a study by Salomon JA et al.: Disability weights for the Global Burden of Disease 2013.

In this research, the authors asked 60,890 participants from around the world which diseases, injuries and disorders they considered to be the most disabling. They then analysed the data to create a ‘disability weight’ for each condition. A disability weight is a number ranging from 0.0 to 1.0 which represents the severity of a disease, with larger numbers representing increasing severity/disability. The paper ranks 185 physical and mental health conditions from least to most disabling, including:

  • HIV/AIDS in treatment = 0.08
  • Mild depression = 0.15
  • Moderate epilepsy = 0.26
  • Moderate dementia = 0.38
  • Moderate depression = 0.40
  • Severe motor impairment = 0.40
  • Severe anxiety = 0.52
  • Severe stroke with long-term consequences = 0.55
  • Severe depression = 0.66
  • Untreated spinal cord lesion/injury = 0.73
  • Schizophrenia (acute) = 0.78
     

These types of studies help to determine how illness affects wellbeing and quality of life, particularly for conditions which are chronic and non-fatal. 

This study is part of a wider programme of research by the World Health Organization (2). You can find the most up to date version at who.int.

  1. Salomon JA, Haagsma JA, Davis A, de Noordhout CM, Polinder S, Havelaar AH, et al. Disability weights for the Global Burden of Disease 2013 study. Lancet Glob Heal [Internet]. 2015 Nov [cited 2016 Dec 2];3(11):e712–23. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  2. World Health Organization. WHO methods and data sources for global burden of disease estimates, 2000–2011 [Internet]. 2013. Available from: who.int

Mental ill health in the workplace

  • 1 in 6 workers will experience depression, anxiety or problems relating to stress at any one time (1)

  • There were 526,000 cases of work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2016/17 in Great Britain (2)

  • In 2016/17, stress was responsible for 40% of all cases of work-related ill health and for 49% of all working days lost due to health issues in GB (2)

  • 1 in 5 people take a day off due to stress. Yet, 90% of these people cited a different reason for their absence (3)

  • Presenteeism accounts for 2 times more losses than absences (4)

  • Every year it costs business £1,300 per employee whose mental health needs are unsupported (4)

  • Mental ill health is responsible for 72 million working days lost and costs £34.9 billion each year (4)
    NB: Different studies will estimate the cost of mental ill health in different ways. Other reputable research estimates this cost to be as high as £74–£99 billion (5)

  • People with a long-term mental health condition lose their jobs every year at around double the rate of those without a mental health condition. This equates to 300,000 people – the equivalent of the population of Newcastle or Belfast (5)

  • 15% of employees who disclosed mental health issues to their line manager reported being disciplined, dismissed or demoted (6)

  • 84% of UK line managers believe they are responsible for employee wellbeing, but only 24% have received training. 49% of line managers reported a wish for basic training in common mental health conditions (6)

  1. McManus S, Bebbington P, Jenkins R, Brugha T. Mental health and wellbeing in England: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014 [Internet]. Leeds; 2016. Available from: content.digital.nhs.uk

  2. Health and Safety Executive. Work-related Stress, Depression or Anxiety Statistics in Great Britain 2017 [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2018 May 8]. Available from: hse.gov.uk

  3. Mind. Work is biggest cause of stress in people’s lives [Internet]. 2013. Available from: mind.org.uk

  4. Centre for Mental Health. Mental health at work: The business costs ten years on [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2017 Oct 16]. Available from: centreformentalhealth.org.uk

  5. Stevenson D, Farmer P. Thriving at work: The Independent Review of Mental Health and Employers [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2017 Nov 22]. Available from: gov.uk

  6. Business in the Community. Mental Health at Work Report 2017 [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2017 Oct 16]. Available from: wellbeing.bitc.org.uk

Mental ill health in higher education students

  • 27-29% of students report clinical levels of psychological distress (1,2)

  • In 2014, 130 students (full time, aged 18+) completed suicide in England (3)

  • In 2015, female suicide rates increased in England to their highest levels since 2005 (4)

  1. Bewick BM, Gill J, Mulhern B, Barkham M, Hill AJ. Using electronic surveying to assess psychological distress within the UK student population: a multi-site pilot investigation. E-Journal Appl Psychol [Internet]. 2008 Dec 23 [cited 2016 Dec 2];4(2):1–5. Available from: sensoria.swinburne.edu.au

  2. YouGov. One in four students suffer from mental health problems [Internet]. 2016. Available from: yougov.co.uk

  3. Office for National Statistics. Suicides in the United Kingdom: 2015 registrations [Internet]. 2016. Available from: ons.gov.uk

  4. Office for National Statistics. Total number of deaths by suicide or undetermined intent for students aged 18 and above in England and Wales [Internet]. 2016. Available from: ons.gov.uk

Depression

  • Depression is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide and a major contributor to suicide and coronary heart disease (1–4)

  • 24% of women and 13% of men in England are diagnosed with depression in their lifetime (5) 

  • Depression often co-occurs with other mental health issues (6)

  1. Whiteford HA, Degenhardt L, Rehm J, Baxter AJ, Ferrari AJ, Erskine HE, et al. Global burden of disease attributable to mental and substance use disorders: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet (London, England) [Internet]. 2013 Nov 9 [cited 2016 Dec 1];382(9904):1575–86. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  2. Vos T. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 310 diseases and injuries, 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Lancet [Internet]. 2016 [cited 2017 Nov 29];388(388):1545–602. Available from: thelancet.com

  3. Chesney E, Goodwin GM, Fazel S. Risks of all-cause and suicide mortality in mental disorders: a meta-review. World Psychiatry [Internet]. 2014 Jun 1 [cited 2017 Jul 10];13(2):153–60. Available from: doi.wiley.com

  4. Correll CU, Solmi M, Veronese N, Bortolato B, Rosson S, Santonastaso P, et al. Prevalence, incidence and mortality from cardiovascular disease in patients with pooled and specific severe mental illness: a large-scale meta-analysis of 3,211,768 patients and 113,383,368 controls. World Psychiatry [Internet]. 2017 Jun 1 [cited 2018 Apr 24];16(2):163–80. Available from: doi.wiley.com

  5. Craig R, Fuller E, Mindell J (Eds). Health Survey for England 2014: Health, social care and lifestyles [Internet]. 2015. Available from: content.digital.nhs.uk

  6. McManus S, Bebbington P, Jenkins R, Brugha T. Mental health and wellbeing in England: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014 [Internet]. Leeds; 2016. Available from: content.digital.nhs.uk

Anxiety

  • There were 8.2 million cases of anxiety in the UK in 2013 (1)

  • Women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety (2,3)

  1. Fineberg NA, Haddad PM, Carpenter L, Gannon B, Sharpe R, Young AH, et al. The size, burden and cost of disorders of the brain in the UK. J Psychopharmacol [Internet]. 2013 Sep [cited 2016 Dec 2];27(9):761–70. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  2. Walters K, Rait G, Griffin M, Buszewicz M, Nazareth I, Kessler R, et al. Recent Trends in the Incidence of Anxiety Diagnoses and Symptoms in Primary Care. Andersson G, editor. PLoS One [Internet]. 2012 Aug 3 [cited 2016 Dec 2];7(8):e41670. Available from: dx.plos.org

  3. Remes O, Brayne C, van der Linde R, Lafortune L. A systematic review of reviews on the prevalence of anxiety disorders in adult populations [Internet]. Vol. 6, Brain and Behavior. 2016 [cited 2016 Dec 2]. p. e00497. Available from:
    doi.wiley.com

Suicide

  • Among the general population 20.6% of people have had suicidal thoughts at some time, 6.7% have attempted suicide and 7.3% have engaged in self-harm (1)

  • In 2016 there were 5,668 suicides in Great Britain. This means that more than 15 people per day took their life. It is estimated that 10-25 times that number attempted suicide (2,3)

  • In 2014, 130 students (full time, aged 18+) completed suicide in England (4)

  • In GB, 1,720 people died in road traffic accidents in 2016/17 (5)

  • More females attempt suicide than males (6)

  • More men die by suicide: 75% male and 25% female (2)

  • In 2015, female suicide rates increased in England to their highest levels since 2005 (7)

  • 80-90% of people who attempt/die by suicide have a mental health condition, but not all are diagnosed (8,9)
    NB: The best and most recently available evidence suggests that the figure is 80.8% overall (9). This research notes that this figure can vary. This depends on factors such as where the studies were conducted, which mental health conditions were examined, and how recently the study was published. Older studies tend to report higher figures, e.g. Arsenault-Lapierre and colleagues published research in 2004 which reports a figure of 87.3% (8). These studies are reviews of ‘psychological autopsy studies’ of suicide completers. The psychological autopsy method makes use of interviews with family members, medical records, and other relevant documents to assess whether the suicide completer had a mental health condition. Older studies estimated mood disorders were present in 30-90% of suicide cases (10).

  • 27% of people who complete suicide have been in contact with mental health services in the year before death (11)

  • Drug and alcohol misuse increase the risk of suicide attempts and completions (12–14)

  1. McManus S, Bebbington P, Jenkins R, Brugha T. Mental health and wellbeing in England: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014 [Internet]. Leeds; 2016. Available from: content.digital.nhs.uk

  2. Office for National Statistics. Suicides in Great Britain: 2016 registrations [Internet]. 2017. Available from: ons.gov.uk

  3. World Health Organization. Preventing Suicide: A Global Imperative [Internet]. 2014. Available from: apps.who.int

  4. Office for National Statistics. Total number of deaths by suicide or undetermined intent for students aged 18 and above in England and Wales [Internet]. 2016. Available from: ons.gov.uk

  5. Department for Transport. Reported road casualties in Great Britain: quarterly provisional estimates year ending September 2017 [Internet]. 2018 [cited 2018 May 8]. Available from: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

  6. Craig R, Fuller E, Mindell J (Eds). Health Survey for England 2014: Health, social care and lifestyles [Internet]. 2015. Available from: content.digital.nhs.uk

  7. Office for National Statistics. Suicides in the United Kingdom: 2015 registrations [Internet]. 2016. Available from: ons.gov.uk

  8. Arsenault-Lapierre G, Kim C, Turecki G. Psychiatric diagnoses in 3275 suicides: a meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry [Internet]. 2004 Nov 4 [cited 2016 Dec 1];4:37. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  9. Cho S-E, Na K-S, Cho S-J, Im J-S, Kang S-G. Geographical and temporal variations in the prevalence of mental disorders in suicide: Systematic review and meta-analysis. J Affect Disord [Internet]. 2016 Jan 15 [cited 2018 May 9];190:704–13. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  10. Isometsä ET. Psychological autopsy studies--a review. Eur Psychiatry [Internet]. 2001 Nov [cited 2016 Dec 1];16(7):379–85. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  11. Shaw J, Windfuhr K, Hunt IM, Flynn S, Roscoe A, Rodway C. National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness. Annual report: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales July 2015 [Internet]. 2015. Available from: research.bmh.manchester.ac.uk

  12. Hawton K, Casañas I Comabella C, Haw C, Saunders K. Risk factors for suicide in individuals with depression: a systematic review. J Affect Disord [Internet]. 2013 May [cited 2016 Dec 1];147(1–3):17–28. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  13. Darvishi N, Farhadi M, Haghtalab T, Poorolajal J. Alcohol-Related Risk of Suicidal Ideation, Suicide Attempt, and Completed Suicide: A Meta-Analysis. Voracek M, editor. PLoS One [Internet]. 2015 May 20 [cited 2018 May 9];10(5):e0126870. Available from: dx.plos.org

  14. Poorolajal J, Haghtalab T, Farhadi M, Darvishi N. Substance use disorder and risk of suicidal ideation, suicide attempt and suicide death: a meta-analysis. J Public Health (Bangkok) [Internet]. 2016 Sep 17 [cited 2018 May 9];38(3):e282–91. Available from: academic.oup.com

Self-harm

  • The UK has one of the highest self-harm rates in Europe (1–3)

  • Self-harm is more common in veterans, young people, women, LGBT+, prisoners, asylum seekers, and those who’ve been abused (4)

  • People who self-harm are approximately 49 times more likely to die by suicide (5)

  1. Hawton K, Bergen H, Casey D, Simkin S, Palmer B, Cooper J, et al. Self-harm in England: a tale of three cities. Multicentre study of self-harm. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol [Internet]. 2007 Jul [cited 2016 Dec 2];42(7):513–21. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  2. Schmidtke A, Bille-Brahe U, Deleo D, Kerkhof A, Bjerke T, Crepef P, et al. Attempted suicide in Europe: rates, trends and sociodemographic characteristics of suicide attempters during the period 1989-1992. Results of the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Parasuicide. Acta Psychiatr Scand [Internet]. 1996 May 1 [cited 2018 Apr 24];93(5):327–38. Available from: doi.wiley.com

  3. Geulayov G, Kapur N, Turnbull P, Clements C, Waters K, Ness J, et al. Epidemiology and trends in non-fatal self-harm in three centres in England, 2000-2012: findings from the Multicentre Study of Self-harm in England. BMJ Open [Internet]. 2016 Apr 29 [cited 2018 Apr 24];6(4):e010538. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  4. Royal College of Psychiatrists. Self-harm, suicide and risk: helping people who self-harm [Internet]. 2010. Available from: rcpsych.ac.uk

  5. Hawton K, Bergen H, Cooper J, Turnbull P, Waters K, Ness J, et al. Suicide following self-harm: findings from the Multicentre Study of Self-Harm in England, 2000-2012. J Affect Disord [Internet]. 2015 Apr 1 [cited 2018 Apr 24];175:147–51. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Eating disorders

  • 6.4% of people in England have experienced symptoms of an ED (1)

  • About 25% of those experiencing ED symptoms are male (2)

  • People with eating disorders are at high risk of premature death and suicide (3)

  1. McManus S, Meltzer H, Brugha T, Bebbington P, Jenkins R. Adult psychiatric morbidity in England, 2007. Results of a household survey [Internet]. 2009. Available from: content.digital.nhs.uk

  2. Sweeting H, Walker L, MacLean A, Patterson C, Räisänen U, Hunt K. Prevalence of eating disorders in males: a review of rates reported in academic research and UK mass media. Int J Mens Health [Internet]. 2015 [cited 2016 Dec 2];14(2). Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  3. Chesney E, Goodwin GM, Fazel S. Risks of all-cause and suicide mortality in mental disorders: a meta-review. World Psychiatry [Internet]. 2014 Jun 1 [cited 2017 Jul 10];13(2):153–60. Available from: doi.wiley.com

Psychosis and schizophrenia

  • 6% of the population say they have experienced at least one symptom of psychosis (1)

  • Males have a higher risk of developing schizophrenia during their lifetime (2)

  • Schizophrenia affects less than 1 in 100 people during their lifetime (3,4)

  • 21st Century improvements in early intervention and treatment methods, and newer medicines, mean better recovery rates. 10 years after diagnosis:

    • 25% recovered completely from their first episode

    • 25% improved with treatment, recovery of (almost) all previous functioning and had very few relapse events

    • 25% improved, needed significant support to function normally and to get through relapse events

    • 15% led a chronic course with little or no improvement and repeated hospital stays over a prolonged part of adult life

    • 10% died, usually as a result of suicide (5)

  1. McManus S, Bebbington P, Jenkins R, Brugha T. Mental health and wellbeing in England: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014 [Internet]. Leeds; 2016. Available from: content.digital.nhs.uk

  2. van der Werf M, Hanssen M, Köhler S, Verkaaik M, Verhey FR, RISE Investigators, et al. Systematic review and collaborative recalculation of 133 693 incident cases of schizophrenia. Psychol Med [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2018 Apr 24];44(1):9–16. Available from: cambridge.org

  3. Kirkbride J, Errazuriz A, Croudace T, Morgan C, Jackson D, McCrone P, et al. Systematic Review of the Incidence and Prevalence of Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses in England. [Internet]. 2012. Available from: psychiatry.cam.ac.uk

  4. Simeone JC, Ward AJ, Rotella P, Collins J, Windisch R. An evaluation of variation in published estimates of schizophrenia prevalence from 1990─2013: a systematic literature review. BMC Psychiatry [Internet]. 2015 Dec 12 [cited 2018 Apr 24];15(1):193. Available from: bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com

  5. Torrey EF. Surviving Schizophrenia: A Family Manual. 6th ed. New York: Harper Perennial; 2013. p. 102 

Bipolar disorder

  • Around 2% of the population have experienced symptoms of bipolar disorder (1–3)

  • Bipolar disorder affects men and women affected equally (1) 

  • Bipolar disorder often starts between adolescence and mid-20s (4,5)

  • It can take around 6 years to receive a correct diagnosis of bipolar disorder (6,7)

  1. McManus S, Bebbington P, Jenkins R, Brugha T. Mental health and wellbeing in England: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014 [Internet]. Leeds; 2016. Available from: content.digital.nhs.uk

  2. Merikangas KR, Paksarian D. Update on Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Correlates of Bipolar Spectrum Disorder. In: The Bipolar Book [Internet]. Oxford University Press; 2015 [cited 2016 Dec 2]. p. 21–34. Available from: oxfordmedicine.com

  3. Smith DJ, Nicholl BI, Cullen B, Martin D, Ul-Haq Z, Evans J, et al. Prevalence and Characteristics of Probable Major Depression and Bipolar Disorder within UK Biobank: Cross-Sectional Study of 172,751 Participants. Potash JB, editor. PLoS One [Internet]. 2013 Nov 25 [cited 2016 Dec 2];8(11):e75362. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  4. Ferrari AJ, Stockings E, Khoo J-P, Erskine HE, Degenhardt L, Vos T, et al. The prevalence and burden of bipolar disorder: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. Bipolar Disord [Internet]. 2016 Aug [cited 2018 Jul 2];18(5):440–50. Available from: doi.wiley.com

  5. Bellivier F, Etain B, Malafosse A, Henry C, Kahn J-P, Elgrabli-Wajsbrot O, et al. Age at onset in bipolar I affective disorder in the USA and Europe. World J Biol Psychiatry [Internet]. 2014 Jul 21 [cited 2018 Jul 2];15(5):369–76. Available from: tandfonline.com

  6. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Bipolar disorder in adults | Guidance and guidelines | Quality standard [QS95] [Internet]. NICE; 2015 [cited 2018 Jul 2]. Available from: nice.org.uk

  7. Dagani J, Signorini G, Nielssen O, Bani M, Pastore A, Girolamo G de, et al. Meta-analysis of the interval between the onset and management of bipolar disorder. Can J Psychiatry [Internet]. 2017 Apr 26 [cited 2018 Jul 2];62(4):247–58. Available from: journals.sagepub.com

Personality disorders

  • Between 4% and 15% of people meet the diagnostic criteria for personality disorder (1,2)

  1. Tyrer P, Reed GM, Crawford MJ, Health D of, Kagan J, Prichard J, et al. Classification, assessment, prevalence, and effect of personality disorder. Lancet (London, England) [Internet]. 2015 Feb 21 [cited 2016 Dec 2];385(9969):717–26. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  2. McManus S, Bebbington P, Jenkins R, Brugha T. Mental health and wellbeing in England: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014 [Internet]. Leeds; 2016. Available from: content.digital.nhs.uk

Alcohol, drugs and mental health

  • 30-50% of people with a severe mental illness also have problems with substance use (1–3)

  • Substantial numbers of people in contact with substance misuse services have mental illness (2,4,5)

  • Drug and alcohol misuse increase the risk of suicide attempts and completions (6–8)

  1. Hall W, Degenhardt L, Teesson M. Reprint of “Understanding comorbidity between substance use, anxiety and affective disorders: Broadening the research base.” Addict Behav [Internet]. 2009 [cited 2016 Dec 1];34(10):795–9. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  2. Torrens M, Mestre-Pintó J, Domingo-Salvany A, EMCDDA project group. Comorbidity of substance use and mental disorders in Europe [Internet]. Lisbon, Portugal; 2015 [cited 2018 Apr 24]. Available from: emcdda.europa.eu

  3. Lai HMX, Cleary M, Sitharthan T, Hunt GE. Prevalence of comorbid substance use, anxiety and mood disorders in epidemiological surveys, 1990-2014: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Drug Alcohol Depend [Internet]. 2015 Sep 1 [cited 2016 Dec 1];154:1–13. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  4. Charzynska K, Hyldager E, Baldacchino A, Greacen T, Henderson Z, Laijärvi H, et al. Comorbidity patterns in dual diagnosis across seven European sites. Eur J Psychiatry [Internet]. 2011 [cited 2016 Dec 1];25(4):179–91. Available from: scielo.isciii.es

  5. Weaver T, Madden P, Charles V, Stimson G, Renton A, Tyrer P, et al. Comorbidity of substance misuse and mental illness in community mental health and substance misuse services. Br J Psychiatry [Internet]. 2003 [cited 2016 Dec 1];183(4):304–13. Available from: bjp.rcpsych.org

  6. Hawton K, Casañas I Comabella C, Haw C, Saunders K. Risk factors for suicide in individuals with depression: a systematic review. J Affect Disord [Internet]. 2013 May [cited 2016 Dec 1];147(1–3):17–28. Available from: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  7. Darvishi N, Farhadi M, Haghtalab T, Poorolajal J. Alcohol-related risk of suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, and completed suicide: A meta-analysis. Voracek M, editor. PLoS One [Internet]. 2015 May 20 [cited 2018 May 9];10(5):e0126870. Available from: dx.plos.org

  8. Poorolajal J, Haghtalab T, Farhadi M, Darvishi N. Substance use disorder and risk of suicidal ideation, suicide attempt and suicide death: a meta-analysis. J Public Health (Bangkok) [Internet]. 2016 Sep 17 [cited 2018 May 9];38(3):e282–91. Available from: academic.oup.com

Statistics packs for MHFA England courses

Click to download PDF:

Adult Mental Health Aware Half Day statistics

Adult MHFA One Day statistics 

Adult MHFA Two Day statistics

Higher Education One Day statistics