Statistics about Mental Health Treatments and Services

There are various sources and ways in which people with mental health concerns can seek treatment and support. Some individuals may come into contact with mental health services through referral from their GP, others may do so through the prison services and courts, some may seek a service which can be accessed without a formal referral and a number of people will not come into contact with any service at all.

This section contains statistics and information about treatment and services for mental illnesses in the UK. We hope this fact-sheet will further your understanding of just how many individuals seek treatment and support to help them overcome a mental health concern each year.

How many people make contact with services?

A study of figures for people making contact with services in Britain found that around 300 people out of 1,000 will experience mental health problems every year¹. Of those 300, 230 will visit a GP, 102 will be diagnosed as having a mental health problem, 24 will be referred to a specialist psychiatric service and 6 will become inpatients in a psychiatric hospital.

Over 1.25 million people used the NHS mental health services in 2010, representing access rates of around 2,700 per 100,000 of the population, the highest number of individuals since data collection began². In addition, the 2010 figures for the number of individuals accessing mental health services were 4 per cent higher than in the previous year, with numbers rising for both men and women in all age bands and ethic groups.

Generally, the number of individuals turning to mental health services for treatment and support has experienced an upward trend each year since 2005/06, which was accompanied by a reduction in the number of people spending time in hospital¹. However, this trend has now ceased and the most recent figures show that for the first time in years there is an increase in the number of people spending time in hospital.

Between 2004/05 and 2008/09 the number of individuals spending time in an NHS mental health hospital gradually decreased from 114,435 in 2004/05 to 102,571 in 2008/09 ¹. However, as mentioned above, the 2009/10 figures show that this downward trend has now reversed and the number of people spending time in a mental health hospital has actually increased for the first time in five years, rising 5.1 per cent to 107,765.

Despite the rise in the number of individuals spending time as inpatients, over 90 per cent of people who used services did not spend any time as an inpatient during that year ¹.

Contact with GPs

According to figures from the 2003 National Survey of NHS patients, approximately 91 per cent of people with a mental health problem will be treated within the primary care system, meaning that very few are referred to specialist mental health services³.

Figures suggest that at least 25 per cent of individuals with symptoms of mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety do not report this to their GP and of those who do, up to 50 per cent only provide details of their physical symptoms and do not detail any mental and emotional aspects⁴.

It has been suggested that the reason many cases of mental health conditions go undiagnosed and unrecognised may be related to a lack of training in areas of mental health for GPs and other industry professionals. One study in particular revealed that only one third of doctors had received mental health training in the past five years, with ten per cent admitting they felt concerned about their training and experience with regards to mental health⁵.

Detentions in hospital under the Mental Health Act

According to figures from the 2010 Mental Health Bulletin, of those who spent time hospital 39.4 per cent were detained there under the Mental Health Act (MHS), a 30.1 per cent rise in the number of people detained in the previous year, rising from 32,429 in 2008/09 to 42,479 in 2009/10².

Further to this, the proportion of both males and females detained under the MHS who came into hospital via the prison or the courts also experienced a rise. The number of women in this category rose by more than 85 per cent to 830 since 2008/09 and the number of men rose from 1,982 to 2,935, an increase of 48.1 per cent since the previous year².

Though the number of inpatients detained under the MHS in 2009/10 rose across all ethic groups, this was most significant among the black group, of whom 66.3 were detained in 2009/10 compared with 53.8 per cent in 2008/09².

Inpatient services

Whilst the number of people using specialist inpatient services for the past few years has been rising, the number of people spending time in hospital had been steadily falling at the same time³. However, figures from the 2010 Mental Health Bulletin show that for the first time since 2003/04-2004/05 there was actually an increase in the number of individuals spending time as inpatients.

In 2009/10 there was an overall rise in the number of people who received inpatient care, rising by 5.1 per cent to 107,765².The rise occurred in both men and women, with the number of women and men spending time as inpatients rising 6.1 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively since the previous year³.

Though there was a general rise in both sexes, the most noticeable increase was among working age adults (18-64), with the number of adults in this age group who spent time as inpatients in 2009/10 increasing 8.2 per cent for women and 5.7 per cent for men.

Choice of treatments available

There are a number of treatments available which can be used to help those suffering from a mental health concern. From various medication right through to talking treatments. Antidepressants are a common form of treatment for neurotic and psychotic disorders, but talking therapies are becoming an increasingly popular method of treatment, either when used on their own or when used in conjunction with prescribed medication.

The following table shows the types of therapy used for various categories of mental disorder (all figures are in percentages)⁷:

References

¹Goldberg, D., and Huxley, P. (1992) Common Mental Disorders - A Bio-Social Model. Available: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Common-Mental-Disorders-Bio-social-Model/dp/0415059879

²The NHS Information Centre (2011) Mental Health Bulletin, Forth report from mental health minimum datasheet (MHMDS) annual returns 2010. Available: http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/mhbmhmds0910

³Airey, C., Boreham, R., Erens, B., and Tobin, R. (2003) National Survey of NHS patients, General Practice 2002, Department of Health, Online summary of key findings available: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/PublishedSurvey/NationalsurveyofNHSpatients/GPsurvey1999-2002/DH_4001356

⁴Main, L. (2006) The Future of Mental Health: a Vision for 2015, The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health. Available: www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/.../mental_health_futures_policy_paper.pdf

⁵Lester, H,. (2005) Shared care for people with mental illness: a GP's perspective, Advances for Psychiatric Treatment, The Royal College of Psychiatrists. Available: apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/reprint/11/2/133.pdf

⁶Cobb, A., Darton, K., and Juttla, K. (2001) Mind's yellow card for reporting drug side effects: a report of users' experiences, Mind.

⁷Office for National Statistics (2000), Psychiatric morbidity among adults living in private households in Great Britain. Available: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=9324&Pos=3&ColRank=1&Rank=272

Further reading

- Hatloy, I. (2007) Treatments and services for people with mental health problems, Mind. Available: http://www.mind.org.uk/help/medical_and_alternative_care/statistics_7_treatments_and_services_for_people_with_mental