mind.org.uk

E is for Everyone (the statistics around mental health)

Hello and welcome back to the A-Z of mental Health, todays blog is E is for everyone, and today I want to talk about the statistics around mental health and I want to discuss, as always, my experience and opinions around them. 

 

So for this blog I have done some research into the statistics surrounding mental health, and I have found that http://www.mind.org.uk is the most reliable source, as their site is focused on mental health, and they provided stats in a way that is understandable and easy to read. MIND is also a great charity when it comes to mental health and their site gives a lot of helpful information and shares stories from other other people who experience mental health issues, so please if you have the time, go and view their site, where you can also make a donation to the charity.

I want to start off with the most obvious question…

How many people have mental health?

 

As per Mind.org.uk, 1 in 4 people will experience mental health issues in the UK each year, and considering there are over 66 million people in UK alone (according to google), that is a lot of people who suffer everyday with mental illness. However, it looks like only 1 in 6 of those people will report it, or go to their GP with it every week. Is there a reason behind this, do people feel they won’t get support or that their doctors won’t believe them? Which some people may think is ridiculous, but I know I felt that way at first, I didn’t want to talk about it, I felt that if I told anyone they wouldn’t believe me or that they would say ‘get over it’ , which some people have, I thought that people would call me crazy or think i’m weak and vulnerable, so I can maybe understand why the other 5 in 6 don’t report it

These Statistics do make me sad. It saddens me to think that this amount of people go through what I go through on a daily basis and a large number of these people will have it worse than me, the other reason it makes me sad is that only 1 in 6 actually report it,and as I said a moment ago, I understand why they might not want to but it still makes me wonder what the other 5 in 6 do to get help, or are they suffering in silence, is this the reason Suicide and self harm are rising. Which leads me onto the next question….

Are the NHS and the Government doing enough?

Now this may be a controversial question, and some may think i’m going after the NHS, but I am NOT. I believe in the NHS, they have helped me so many times with my physical and mental health and my doctor has always been understanding and pointed me in the right direction whether that be counselling or medication, but I know not every has had this experience, which is why I wanted to talk about it.

I am no politician, and I don’t know much about politics but it is clear from the news and the articles I read that the NHS are not given enough funding to cope with mental illness, and I do believe that people are suffering because of it. You hear stories everyday about the waiting times for referrals for mental health, but if there isn’t enough money to hire more professionals, then these are only going to get worse., and for some people, they cannot wait months to see someone. I know that if I hadn’t of seen someone when I did my panic would have spiralled out of control.

This morning I read an article, which I won’t go into to much detail due to the sensitive nature of it, but it talked about a woman who called her doctors surgery to tell them she felt suicidal, she asked for an appointment and was told the next available date free was in 12 days time. I can’t help but feel an overwhelming feeling of sadness and grief, for a woman I did not know, because the next day she took her own life. 12 days is a long time to wait, when you feel like you have no time left, I don’t blame the person who took the call, I can imagine they were following ‘protocol’, or they just didn’t know how to respond, because even as someone who has felt like that, I wouldn’t know what to say in that specific moment, but there has to have been another way to deal with this, another way to get this woman the help she needed before it was too late. So I guess the answer to my question, my own personal opinion is….No, and that is not the NHS’s fault.

Statistics around specific metal health problems

As per MIND (www.midd.org.uk), a survey is done every two years looking into stats around how many people suffer with specific people. The below data is from 2016, so a new report is due soon.
Generalised Anxiety: 5.9%
Depression: 3.3%
OCD: 1.3%
PTSD: 4.4%
Panic Disorder: 0.6%
Mixed Anxiety/ Depression: 7.8%
People with Suicidal thoughts: 20.6%
Suicidal Attempts: 6.7%
Self harm: 7.3%

These statistics are based on people who have reported their struggles, the 1 in 6. It again makes me wonder how many people in the UK alone have not reported their illness. Personally I have suffered with anxiety, depression, panic disorder and suicidal thoughts. I’m one of the 5.9%, the 3.3%, the 0.6% and the 20.6%. Until I saw these stats I always thought that my panic disorder was common, but only 0.6 of people have reported having it, I repeat only 0.6 report having it, how many people actually do.
Another thing I notice looking at these figures, is a lot of them overlap, as I just mentioned I have a few of these conditions, I would even add another and say I have mild OCD with certain things, so when you add them all together and take out the people who fall into multiple disorders, how many people actually do report and go to the doctor? Because I am part of all the figures I mentioned, I am part of the 5.9 and the 3.3, are these percentage based on people with just that condition alone, or do they include everyone ho has them. Food for thought!

What I’ve learned

 This blog has been more about looking at facts and figures, but i wanted to end it more personally. I’ve learned a lot looking through all the data on Mind’s website, and i’ve learned that not enough people are reporting their mental illnesses, and not enough people are getting the help they need, and that as the initial reason behind me starting this blog, I want to help people who don’t feel like they can talk to their GP…Yet. I want to let people know that i’ve gone though hat you’re going through and to relay the message that it is okay to not be okay, it is okay to talk about you mental health, to feel vulnerable. I don’t want people to go though it, but I do want to see those percentages rise, because I want people to get the help they deserve.

I can’t wait to go through the rest of the alphabet with you, see you next time for F is for…….