Top mental health concerns in the UK

Each year in the UK, 45.8 million adults experience some kind of mental health problem, according to leading mental healthcare provider Priory. Below are some of the most common mental health problems in the UK.

While awareness and acceptance has dramatically increased in recent years, it’s estimated that 61% of adults affected do not seek treatment and 98% believe mental illness is still stigmatised.

What are the most common mental health problems in the UK?

Around 1 in 4 people experience some kind of mental health problem each year in the UK.

The following are the most common mental health problems in England in any given week, according to mental health charity Mind (with the exception of eating disorders) UK.

Mixed anxiety and depression

Frequency: 8 in 100 people

The most common mental health issue is experiencing a mix of the intense worry of anxiety and the deep sadness of depression. In somebody with both anxiety and depression, symptoms of each can exacerbate symptoms of the other.

Symptoms can include:

• Persistent worry or fear
• A deep sense of sadness
• Frequently feeling irritable or tearful
• Having trouble with concentration and motivation at work or in education
• Feeling flat or apathetic
• Fatigue
• Neglecting yourself or your home
• Nausea and panic attacks

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)

Frequency: 6 in 100 people

Generalised anxiety disorder is excessive worry or fear that affects your daily life. People with GAD are plagued by unwanted thoughts and even physical symptoms.

Symptoms can include:

• Intense feelings of fear or panic that are disproportionate to the situation
• Unwanted negative thoughts that are difficult to control or get out of your head
• Overthinking
• Physical reactions to anxiety can include nausea, shaking, sweating, heart palpitations and difficulty breathing
• Stomach aches, particularly a ‘knotted’ feeling and/or diarrhoea

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Frequency: 4 in 100 people

PTSD is a response to a traumatic event. Often seen in veterans, symptoms can begin straight after the event or take months or years to emerge. The traumatic event does not need to be war, it can be anything that causes extreme distress.

Anything that triggers that memory – a place, a song, a smell – can cause your body to react as if you were there again. You can relive the physical and emotional responses to the event that you had at the time.

When a person with PTSD is triggered, they can experience:

• Chills
• Heart palpitations
• An adrenaline rush as their body goes into ‘fight or flight’
• Tense muscles
• Outbursts of anger
• Intense emotions they felt during that event, such as fear or sadness

Signs that somebody is going through this on a regular basis can include:

• Mood swings and irritability
• Isolating themselves
• Nightmares and trouble sleeping
• Misuse of substances like drugs or alcohol, or use of other coping mechanisms like excessive exercise or binge eating

Depression

Frequency: 3 in 100 people

Depression often comes and goes and people can experience episodes throughout their life that can last weeks or even years. Some people experience it seasonally, most commonly during the winter but others feel depressed in summer months.

Symptoms can include:

• A persistent low mood
• Feeling unmotivated or apathetic
• Low self-esteem
• Fatigue
• Neglecting your health and hygiene
• Suicidal thoughts

Eating disorders

Frequency: 2 in 100 people

Eating disorders come in many different forms. Many people are familiar with anorexia, but there are a wide range of disorders and only 10-15% of people with eating disorders are classified as underweight. 

While around 1.6 million people in the UK are known to be directly affected by an eating disorder, many people never seek support, so the true number could be as high as 4 million.

Symptoms of an eating disorder can include:

• An unhealthy fixation on food or body image
• Having strict rules around food
• Excessive under or overeating
• Having a fear of certain foods
• Not feeling in control over the amount you eat, or needing to be in full control

Phobias

Frequency: 2 in 100 people

A phobia is an intense fear of a particular thing. If the thing someone has a phobia of is something they have to encounter fairly often, it can have a negative impact on their wellbeing.

Common phobias include fear of heights, spiders, enclosed spaces, public speaking and the dark.

Symptoms that you may have a phobia of something include:

• When faced with, or anticipating being faced with, the thing you are afraid of, experiencing panic attacks or other physical distress
• Avoiding the thing you are afraid of at all costs
• Finding it extremely to difficult to overcome the fear

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Frequency: 1 in 100 people

People with OCD experience obsessive fears or anxieties that are only soothed by acting on compulsions. Often these soothing actions have nothing to do with what the person fears, but they cannot relax until they’ve performed the action.

Symptoms can include:

• Having unwanted thoughts that scare you or make you feel uncomfortable, such as that you are unclean or that something terrible is going to happen to your family
• Performing ritualistic and repetitive actions to ease these thoughts, like cleaning, pacing or counting
• Feeling unable to relax until you have acted on your compulsions or fearing that if you don’t do them something bad will happen
• Feeling that you have no control over your symptoms, as you cannot prevent the obsessive thoughts or be at peace until you’ve performed the compulsive action

Panic disorder

Frequency: Fewer than 1 in 100 people

Panic disorder causes people to experience panic attacks, a physical response to intense and overwhelming feelings of fear. They can be triggered by certain memories, smells, sounds or feelings.

Symptoms can include:

• Frequent panic attacks, which can include difficulty breathing, nausea, feeling light-headed, shaking, a rapid heartbeat or sweating
• Dissociation
• Living with anxiety about when the next panic attack will come and/or that may cause you injury or even death

Common mental health disorders UK

Conditions like personality disorders and psychotic disorders are also common but they can vary in their estimations. Often people do not want to be labelled with them due to the stigma that they carry. These diagnoses can change several times within a person’s lifetime.

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD)

Frequency: 3 in 100 people (in their lifetime)

Borderline personality disorder (BPD)

Frequency: 2 in 100 people (in their lifetime)

Psychotic disorders (including schizophrenia)

Frequency: Fewer than 1 in 100 people (in any given year)

How to get help with common mental health problems in the UK

You can and should go to your GP if you think you may have a mental health issue. Even if you think your symptoms aren’t as severe as they could be, the doctor can decide what steps to take.

Other ways to seek support include:

Helplines

Mind

Mind is a mental health charity that provides advice to support and empower people who are experiencing problems with their mental health.

Mind Infoline: 0300 123 3393

This line offers confidential information and support. Opening times are 9am – 6pm, Monday – Friday.

Side by Side online mental health community is a safe space to connect with others and discuss mental health. It is moderated every day between 8:30am and midnight.

Samaritans

Support at any time of the day or night.

Telephone: 116 123
Email: jo@samaritans.org
Post: Write to Freepost SAMARITANS LETTERS

NHS urgent mental health helpline (England)

24-hour support, England only

Which number you need depends on if you are calling for yourself or somebody else.

Find the right phone number for your circumstances here.

Self-referral for mental health support (England)

If you live in England, you can refer yourself for therapy through the NHS’s IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) service, rather than going to the GP.

You can do this online here and you do need to be registered with a GP to access the service.

The service offers a variety of therapies which you will take part in over the phone or online. Once your allotted number of sessions has been used, you may be referred for further sessions. 

Resources

Many people find self-help effective when managing mental health troubles.

Mind

Mind has advice on self-care for various different mental health issues, such as this one for anxiety.

Anna Freud Centre

Charity the Anna Freud Centre has information on how a huge range of activities can support your mental health, from nutrition to gaming to psychic intuition, plus advice on creating your own mental health plan.

Young Minds

Young Minds has excellent support for young people and their parents and caregivers, such as advice on coping with life and much more.

Rethink

Rethink had advice and support, as well as a search feature to find support in your area.

Mental Health Foundation

The Mental Health Foundation has practical advice for looking after your mental health, including during the Covid-19 pandemic.