Mental illness affects one in four people in Britain in any given year. It accounts for 28% of the total burden of disease. It costs the economy an estimated £118 billion annually in lost productivity, healthcare costs, and welfare spending.
And yet mental health services receive approximately 13% of NHS funding — a proportion that has barely changed in decades despite the growing recognition of need.
The Demand Side
Every reliable measure of mental health need is moving in the wrong direction. Rates of anxiety and depression have risen among working-age adults; eating disorder presentations have increased dramatically among young people; the number of adults seeking psychological therapy through the NHS has reached record levels.
The explanations are contested. Social media is frequently blamed; the evidence is more nuanced but not exculpatory. Economic insecurity, housing stress, and the erosion of community and religious structures that previously provided social support are harder to quantify but probably more significant.
The Supply Side
The NHS Long-Term Plan committed to transforming mental health services. Progress has been made: more talking therapy capacity, a new crisis care network, reduced inpatient waiting times in some areas.
The progress is insufficient relative to the scale of need. Waiting times for CAMHS — child and adolescent mental health services — remain unconscionable in some areas. Crisis teams are responding to demand that would previously have been met by earlier intervention.
