Facts

Find out the facts about mental ill-health and test your knowledge in our mental health quiz.

1 in 4 British adults experience at least one diagnosable mental health problem in any one-year. 1 in 6 experiences this at any given time.
Approximately 450 million people worldwide have a mental health problem.
9% of British people meet the criteria for being diagnosed with mixed anxiety and depression, the most common mental disorder in Britain.
8-12% of the population experience depression in any one-year.
In general, rates of mental health problems are higher in minority ethnic groups than the white population in England. However they are less likely to have their mental health problems detected by a GP.
1 in 10 British children between the ages of 1 and 15 has a mental health disorder.
Rates of mental health problems among children increase as they reach adolescence. Disorders affect 10.4% of boys aged 5-10, rising to 12.8% of boys aged 11-15, and 5.9% of girls aged 5-10, rising to 9.65% of girls aged 11-15.
5% of people over the age of 65 are affected by dementia and 20% of people over 80.
700,000 people in the UK have dementia at any one time, which equates to 1.2% of the population.
1 in 5 older people living in the community and 2 in 5 living in care homes are affected by depression.
At 400 per 100,000 of the population, the UK has one of the highest rates of self-harm in Europe.
People with current mental health problems are 20 times more likely than others to report having harmed themselves in the past.
50% of people with common mental health problems are no longer affected after 18 months. However poorer people, the long-term sick and unemployed are more likely to still be affected compared to the general population.
1 in 4 unemployed people have a common mental health problem.
60% of people with phobias or OCD are female. Women are twice as likely to experience anxiety as men.
29% of women have been treated for a mental health problem, compared to 17% of men. This could be because, when asked, women are more likely to report symptoms of common mental health problems.
67% of British people who consume alcohol at �hazardous� levels and 80% of people dependent on alcohol are male.
75% of people dependent on cannabis and 69% of people dependent on other illegal drugs are male.
More than 5,500 people in the UK died by suicide in 2004.
British men are 3 times more likely than British women to die by suicide.
Suicide is the most common cause of death in men under the age of 35.
The suicide rate among people over 65 has fallen by 24% in recent years, but it is still high compared to the population overall.
The suicide rate in prisons is almost 15 times higher than amongst the general population. In 2002 the rate was 143 per 100,000 compared to 9 per 100,000 in the general population.
9 in 10 prisoners have a mental disorder.
More than 70% of the prison population has two or more mental health disorders.
Male prisoners are 14 times more likely to have two or more mental health disorders than men in general.
Female prisoners are 35 times more likely to have two or more mental health disorders than women in general.
70-80% of people who experience mental health problems will recover.