Learn how common mental health problems are. And statisticsabout risk factors and mental health treatments.

This page includes statistics about suicide and self-harm.

On this page:

● How common are mental health problems?

● How many people get treatment?

● Are mental health problems increasing?

● Who’s most affected by mental health problems?

How common are mental health problems?

● 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problemof some kind each year in England.

● 1 in 6 people report experiencing a common mentalhealth problem (like anxiety and depression) in any given week in England.

Specific diagnoses In any given week in England:

● Mixed anxiety and depression: 8 in 100 people

● Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD): 6 in 100 people

● Post-traumatic stressdisorder (PTSD): 4 in 100 people

● Depression: 3 in 100 people

● Phobias: 2 in 100 people

● Obsessive-compulsivedisorder (OCD): 1in 100 people

● Panic disorder: fewer than 1 in 100 people.

A person's diagnosis may change several times during theirlife. Some complex conditions are measured by how many people will be given
this diagnosis over the course of their lifetime, or in any given year:

● Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD): 3in 100 people (in their lifetime)

● Borderline personality disorder (BPD): 2in 100 people (in their lifetime)

● Bipolar disorder: 2 in 100 people (in their lifetime)

● Psychotic disorders (including schizophrenia): fewerthan 1 in 100 people (in any given year)

But estimates for these diagnoses can vary quite a lot.Also, personality disorder and schizophrenia are controversial diagnosis.

These labels can be stigmatising and many people feel that they shouldn't be used at
all.

Suicidalthoughts and self-harm

Suicidal thoughts and self-harm aren’t mental healthdiagnoses. But they are related to mental health. Over the course of someone’s
lifetime.

● 1 in 5 people have suicidal thoughts

● 1 in 14 people self-harm

● 1 in 15 people attempt suicide.
 

Women are more likely to have suicidal thoughts and makesuicide attempts than men.

But men are 3 times more likely to take their own life thanwomen.

Caution on these figures

The 2014 survey that many of these figures come from onlylooked at people who were:
 

● aged 16 and over

● living in private housing

● living in England (data wasn’t collected in Wales).

This excludes lots of groups of people. For example, thesefigures do not include people who are:

● in hospitals

● in prisons

● in sheltered housing

● homeless or rough sleeping.

So the true numbers are probably higher than these figuresshow.

We’ve rounded the figures to the nearest whole number. Youcan find more detail in the original study.

How many people get treatment?

Reports from both England and Wales suggest that:

● Approximately only 1 in 3 adults with a common mentalhealth problem are currently getting treatment in the form of talking
therapies, medication or both.

● The most common treatment offered is psychiatricmedication.

Are mental health problems increasing?

The overall number of people reporting mental healthproblems has been going up in recent years.

● The amount of people with common mental health problemswent up by 20% between 1993 to 2014, in both men and women