The Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey is a barometer of the nation’s mental health. In recent years, rates of frequently occurring mental health issues have continued to rise. Adults aged 16 to 64 indicated difficulties at a rate of 17.6% in 2007, 18.9% in 2014, to 22.6% in 2024.
Of course we know there was a big Covid effect, particularly for young people out of school and less supported by professionals during those years. The impact of the cost of living and growing unemployment in younger adults, reduced health and social/community services recently have an impact on top of the general and historic impact of poverty and reduced opportunities.
There are calls for a new or energised mental health strategy by government but these plans and strategies come and go with changes of government. We also know much of psychological distress can be prevented if we educate young people, schools, workplaces on the causes and some of the solutions available to all. We need quick access to community support, after school clubs, youth clubs, community activities and leisure to combat isolation, parent support and higher level support for those who need it most. For the newer wave of diagnoses of ADHD, Autism and other similar conditions we need clear information and coaching support for families, SEND teams and their schools/workplaces and not all of these interventions need to be long. In Atrium Clinic, we have found that over 75% of adults with ADHD symptoms on NHS waiting lists for assessment improve after four sessions of coaching and probably won’t be seeking medication for symptoms through the NHS. That means saving specialist services for those who need them most.
The centre for mental health says that 47.7% of people with mental health problems accessed Talking Therapies. We know there is a problem with engagement with those services and many people don’t finish the therapy programme. When you get the approach right, people complete therapy and achieve the evidenced benefits. Even in prisons, Atrium Clinic has shown over the years that adult men who traditionally did not do well with talking therapies, can significantly improve and we are publishing our results soon with Portsmouth University. The engagement issue with young people is a different one and we have been working with Anglia Ruskin University to review our clinical gains from working with young people on Gaming incorporated therapies and the results are fantastic!
The solutions don’t always involve throwing lots of money at mental health. It’s about evaluating and promoting what works and recognising that every individual and context is different. Prevention is good and we must keep following the evidence from good practice.
