Mental health facts and statistics

Learn how common mental health problems are. And find statistics about risk factors and mental health treatments.

Content warning: this page includes statistics about suicide and self-harm.

How common are mental health problems?

• 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England [1].
• 1 in 5 people report experiencing a common mental health problem (like anxiety and depression) in any given week in England [2].
• About 1 in 5 children and young people aged 8 to 25 in England have a probable mental health problem [3].

Specific diagnoses

In any given week in England [2]:

• Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD): 8 in 100 people
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): 6 in 100 people [4]
• Depression: 4 in 100 people
• Phobias: 3 in 100 people
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): 2 in 100 people
• Panic disorder: 1 in 100 people

A person's diagnosis may change several times during their life. Some complex conditions are measured by how many people will be given this diagnosis over the course of their lifetime, or in any given year:

• Borderline personality disorder (BPD): 2 in 100 people (in their lifetime)
• Bipolar disorder: 2 in 100 people (in their lifetime)
• Psychotic disorders (including schizophrenia): fewer than 1 in 100 people (in any given year)

But estimates for these diagnoses can vary quite a lot. Also, personality disorder and schizophrenia are controversial diagnoses. These labels can be stigmatising. And many people feel that they shouldn't be used at all.

Suicidal thoughts and self-harm

Suicidal thoughts and self-harm aren’t mental health diagnoses. But they are related to mental health. Over the course of someone’s lifetime [5]:

• 1 in 4 people have suicidal thoughts
• 1 in 10 people self-harm
• 1 in 13 people attempt suicide

Women are more likely to have suicidal thoughts and to make suicide attempts than men [5]. But men are 3 times more likely to take their own life than women [6].

How many people get treatment for mental health problems?

In England[7]:

• Nearly half of adults with a common mental health problem are currently getting treatment in the form of talking therapies, medication or both.
• The most common treatment offered is psychiatric medication [2].

Are mental health problems increasing?

The overall number of people reporting mental health problems has been going up.

• The number of people with common mental health problems went up by 45% between 1993 and 2023/24, in both men and women[2].
• The percentage of people reporting severe mental health symptoms in any given week rose from 7% in 1993, to nearly 12% in 2023/24 [2].
• The number of young people reporting common mental health problems has been going up [2].

In 2023, the overall number of registered suicides in England and Wales was at its highest since 1999. People aged 50 to 54 years were most at risk from suicide [8].

We also know that:

• More than 4 times as many people reported having self-harmed in their lifetime in 2023/24 compared to 2000 [5].
• The number of people reporting suicidal thoughts within the past year went up by 76% between 2000 and 2023/24 [5].
• The number of people who self-harm or have suicidal thoughts is rising faster than the number of people experiencing mental health problems overall [2] [5].

This might mean that people are finding it harder to cope with mental health problems.

Who is most affected by mental health problems?

Anyone can experience a mental health problem. But we know that some groups are more likely to experience them than others.

These include:

• People who identify as LGBTQIA+. Research by Stonewall found that 61% of LGBT people had experienced anxiety over the past year. And half (52%) had experienced depression [9].
• Women. Women are more likely to experience common mental health problems than men. Nearly 1 in 4 women (24%) experience a common mental health problem in any given week, compared to nearly 1 in 7 men (15%) [2].
• People experiencing poverty. More than 1 in 4 (26%) people living in the most deprived areas in England report experiencing a common mental health problem in any given week. This compares with around 1 in 6 (16%) of people living in the least deprived areas [2].
• People with physical health conditions. Around 1 in 3 people with a physical health condition that limits their activities have a common mental health problem. This compares with around 1 in 8 people who don’t [2].

It's important to know that mental health problems can have a wide range of causes. And these can be complicated. Our page on the causes of mental health problems has more information.

 Higher risk for these groups is linked to several factors [10] [11], including:

• Facing inequality and disadvantage, such as poverty and financial difficulties, poor quality housing and homelessness, or unemployment and insecure work
• Facing discrimination [12] and social exclusion
• Going through traumatic experiences
• Experiencing physical health problems