72% of people who died by suicide between 2002 and 2012 had not been in contact with their GP or a health professional about these feelings in the year before their suicide. If just one of our brilliant clients finds that the below prods them into action, for themselves, or a family member or close friend, this one email is more valuable than anything else we can possibly do for you.
Let’s take a deep dive into some of the stats behind World Mental Health Day.
General Mental Health:
• 6,122 suicides were recorded in the UK for people aged 10+, about one death every two hours. (Office for National Statistics, 2014)
• Suicide was the leading cause of death for men under 50 years of age in England and Wales, and for women aged 20–34, in 2014.
• 1 in 15 people (7.3%) have self-harmed at some point in their life. This is higher in women (8.9%) than in men (5.7%).
• Highest rates of self-harm were reported by women aged 16–24, which is one in four (25.7%).
• Two thirds (66.9%) of 16–34-year olds did not seek help for self-harming.
Mental Health & Employment:
• More than 1 in 7 employed people experience mental health problems in the workplace.
• This means 4.6 million people in work in the UK have a common mental health problem.
• Women in full-time employment were twice as likely to have a common mental health problem as full-time employed men.
• 12.7% of all sickness absence days in the UK can be attributed to mental health conditions.
Parents:
• 68% of women and 57% of men with mental health problems are parents. (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2016)
• On average, 39% of those who experienced ante-natal depression went on to have post-natal depression.
• One fifth of adults (20.6%) reported that they had thought of taking their own life at some point in their lives. Higher rates were reported by women (22.4%) than by men (18.7%). (The APMS, 2014)
Older Adults:
• Depression or anxiety was noted to be highest among those aged 50–59 and those of 80 years and older.
• Fewer than one in six older people with depression discuss their symptoms with their GP. (Royal College of General Practitioners)
• 40% of older adults living in a care home experience depression, and it often remains undetected.
• 2.9 million people aged 65 and over felt that they had no one to go to for support…
• …39% of people interviewed said that they felt lonely and …
• …one in five said that they felt forgotten (survey by Age UK).
• 850,000 people lived with dementia in the UK (estimate, 2015).
• The total cost of dementia in the UK is £26.3 billion, with an average cost of £32,250 per person.
Children:
• 75% of mental health problems are established by the age of 24. (US study, 2005)
• 35% of females aged 16-24 have had suicidal thoughts, the most in any age group.
• 41,921 hospitalisations for self-harm in young people aged 10–24. (England hospital statistics, 2014)
• The proportion of university students who formally identify themselves as having mental health problems doubled between 2008–09 and 2013–14. (Higher Education Funding Council for England, 2015)
• 6 in 10 young people report being victims of cyber-bullying.
• Children of 13+ who reported being bullied or victimised were twice as likely to develop depression by the age of 18.
• Self-harming is on the rise, a 68% increase between 2007 and 2014.
If you would like to take one small step to help yourself or your loved ones, click on this link, CALM – Campaign Against Living Miserably, and become part of the solution.
To bring it slightly more in line with our services, do read Mind’s piece on Money and Mental Health.
“Normal” service resumed next month.
P.S. This note was an initiative of the younger people in this office – well done them.
