Mental Health Statistics and Facts

How common are mental health problems? Who is affected most by mental illness? What are the main contributors to mental disease? This page is a summary of the latest mental health statistics and facts.

Mental Health is a complex issue with many contributing factors and outcomes. We’re learning more about mental health, and how it affects our lives, all the time.

There’s been a significant increase in mental health awareness in recent years, with more and more prominent figures sharing there own personal struggles and mental health issues.

This is a step forwards in surfacing common disorders and removing the stigma surrounding them.

The more we talk about mental health and take positive action, the more we can help ourselves and those that we care about. To give you an idea of the current state of mental health, we’ve pulled together some of the most up-to-date mental health statistics and research.

How common are mental health problems?

More than 1 in 5 US adults live with a mental illness. (CDC)
Over 1 in 5 youth (ages 13-18) either currently or at some point during their life, have had a seriously debilitating mental illness. (Merikangas KR, He J, Burstein M, et al)
About 1 in 25 US adults lives with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression. (National Survey on Drug Use and Health)
1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England. (McManus, S., Meltzer, H., et al)
1 in 6 adults (17%) experience a common mental disorder in any given week in England. (McManus, S., et al)
Nearly half (43.4%) of adults (24.5 million in England) think that they have had a diagnosable mental health condition at some point in their life. (McManus, S., et al)
14.3% of deaths worldwide, or approximately 8 million deaths each year, are attributable to mental disorders. (Walker, E.,et al)

Who is affected most by mental health problems?

35.2% of men and 51.2% of women think they had a diagnosable mental health condition at some point in their life. (McManus, S., et al)
1 in 5 women report experiencing symptoms for mental health problems, compared to 1 in 8 men. (McManus, S., et al)
A fifth of men (19.5%) and a third of women (33.7%) have had diagnoses for mental health conditions confirmed by professionals. (McManus, S., et al)
Around 40% of people facing severe and multiple disadvantages (poverty, substance abuse, homelessness) also have a mental health problem in any given week in England. (Lankelly Chase with Herriot Watt University)
23% of Black or Black British people will experience a common mental health problem in any given week in England. (McManus, S., et al)
LGBTQIA+ people are between 2–3 times more likely than heterosexual people to report having a mental health problem in England. (J Gen Intern Med.)

Stress statistics

79% of UK adults feel stressed at least one day a month. (CIPHR)
1 in 14 UK adults (7%) feel stressed every single day. (CIPHR)
74% of UK adults have felt so stressed at some point over the last year they felt overwhelmed, or unable to cope. (Mental Health Foundation)
1 in 5 UK adults (21%) say they never feel stressed. (Mental Health Foundation)
32% of adults said they had experienced suicidal feelings as a result of stress. (Mental Health Foundation)
The most common cause of stress is work-related stress with 79% saying they frequently felt it. (Statistica)
Excessive workload (73%), lack of control (31%) and lack of support (29%) are the top three causes of negative stress at work. (Champion Health)

Anxiety statistics

In England in any given week in 2013, there was a 6.6% prevalence of anxiety. (NHS Digital)
In any given week in England, 6 in 100 people will be diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder. (Mind)
In the UK, over 8 million people are experiencing an anxiety disorder at any one time. (Mental Health UK)
In 2022/23, an average of 37.1% of women and 29.9% of men reported high levels of anxiety. (ONS)
Less than 50% of people with generalised anxiety disorder access treatment. (Mental Health Foundation)

Depression statistics

Around 1 in 6 adults in the UK experience moderate to severe depressive symptoms. (ONS)
Around 1 in 4 (24%) of those who reported difficulty paying their energy bills experienced moderate to severe depressive symptoms. (ONS)
Women are twice as likely to experience depression than men. (Streb, J., et al 2021)
15% of women receive treatment for depression, compared to only 9% of men. (Mental Health Foundation)

Suicide statistics

Over 700,000 people take their own life each year – that’s one person every 40 seconds. (World Health Organization)
1 in 5 people in England (approximately 11.3 million adults) have suicidal thoughts. (NHS Digital)
1 in 14 people in England (approximately 4 million adults) self-harm. (NHS Digital)
1 in 15 people in England (approximately 3.7 million adults) attempt suicide. (NHS Digital)
Three quarters of registered suicide deaths in the UK were for men. (ONS)
46% of people who die by suicide had a known mental health condition. (NAMI)
More than 1 in 3 people who die from suicide are under the influence of alcohol at the time of death. (CDC)