Almost one third of people are regularly stressed, reveals the Mental Health Foundation

The results of a recent survey commissioned by The Mental Health Foundation has led to calls for a national strategy to help reduce the risk of people experiencing mental health problems by introducing mindfulness as a prevention method.

The results coincide with the launch of Mental Health Awareness Week, the survey of 2,000 British adults reported often that almost one third of people feel stressed, almost one quarter feel anxious and nearly one fifth said they feel depressed.

The study further revealed that nearly 50 per cent of workers found it difficult to relax after work, whilst more than 60 per cent said they would participate in stress-reducing activities.

Jenny Edwards, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said: “We have just had a General Election where for the first time mental health was a key issue addressed in the manifestos of the major parties. The public are calling for practical action. It’s now time to hold the new Conservative Government to commit to significant steps. Of course adequate funding of mental health services is vital, but we also need a national prevention strategy for mental health to help prevent mental health problems from developing wherever possible. We need to tackle the causes that increase the risks of mental ill health and to equip people with practical tools that help prevent stress, anxiety and depression, and build resilience.”

'Mindfulness is one of the most encouraging practices to support good mental health'

The charity is campaigning for Mindfulness to be recommended by GPs and health professionals as a stress reducing technique for people who may be experiencing stress or anxiety in their daily lives. Ms Edwards continued: “Mindfulness is one of the most encouraging practices to support good mental health. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction was originally developed for helping patients attending pain clinics. Now mindfulness-based approaches are being successfully used in a wide range of settings and for different conditions. Studies provide good evidence of the impact in many areas. People from all walks of life testify to the transformation in their quality of life as a result of practicing mindfulness regularly.”

The survey further revealed that, although nearly 60 per cent of people were not aware of Mindfulness, they felt they would be more inclined to use it as a method to reduce stress for just 15 minutes a day if it could reduce stress levels by 30 per cent.

Mindfulness can be practiced using courses, both online and offline, books, professional trainers and apps.

Ms Edwards added: “Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy is recommended by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and endorsed in the Chief Medical Officer’s Mental Health report, for reducing the risk of recurrent depression, cutting relapse rates in half. However, the evidence to date is that only a handful of Clinical Commissioning Groups make mindfulness available in their area.

“We are calling for mindfulness to be available in all areas of the country so that GPs can recommend it and NICE recommendations can be acted upon. We also encourage people to consider mindfulness as a self-help practice that can build our resilience and capacity to deal with life’s challenges and the stress so many people feel so regularly.”

Deena Dahabiyeh, who practices mindfulness, said: “I practice mindfulness when I start to feel my emotions quickly rising. There were times when I was scared to go out without my mum because I feared being at a tube station alone and irrational thoughts would start stirring in my head. But the great thing about mindfulness is that you can do it anywhere.

“I would focus on something, even if it was a picture on the wall or a pen, and that allowed the intensity of my emotions to settle and rest. The end result was that the severity of my emotions decreased and I stopped making such irrational choices. Mindfulness helps me to stop the intensity of emotions skyrocketing from a level 1 – a slight annoyance – to a level 10 intense anger in a second – I can therefore intervene earlier with my emotions.”

The Mental Health Foundation has relaunched www.bemindful.co.uk. It is hoped this will help people find out more about the benefits of Mindfulness and find experts located nearby to them to seek advice.