BACP: Two-thirds of British adults now experience depression
Tuesday, 18, Apr 2006 12:00
“TWO THIRDS OF BRITISH ADULTS (66%) NOW EXPERIENCE DEPRESSION. THE VAST MAJORITY (86%) EXPERIENCE MORE THAN ONE EPISODE OF DEPRESSION” (Mintel/YouGov Report, April 2006)
These are the startling findings of a new and comprehensive survey of the British people commissioned by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) from leading pollsters Mintel. They reveal a nation at odds with itself and with current approaches to mental health. They show that the young, our future, are now more depressed than the old. And that men, traditionally less depressed than women, are becoming almost AS depressed as women.
Other headline findings show astonishing evidence of the public’s support for therapy –
‘94% of those who had received counselling or psychotherapy would recommend it to others’. 60% of those in the survey overall ‘think counselling and psychotherapy should be fully available on the NHS’.
Overall, the survey demonstrates that we pay a demanding mental health price for our current lifestyle:
• Relationships depress 44% of us
• Overwork depresses 43% of us
• Bereavement forces one third of us with depression to seek help from our GPs
• Financial problems forces one third of us with depression to seek help from our GPs
• Exam pressure triggers significant depression among 18-24 year olds
• Londoners are most anxious about money and jobs
Previous surveys have suggested women suffer more depression than men, roughly in the ratio 2:1. The BACP survey, however, indicates there has been a big increase in male depression (or admission of depression) to close this gender gap: 59% of men experience depression compared to 73% of women.
So far as treatments go, people are turning both to the media and psychotherapy and counselling:
• Last year sales of self-help books on Amazon.com rose by an amazing 40%.
• a massive 94% of people who had received therapy, indicated that they would recommend therapy to others.
• They felt that their therapy treatment had been beneficial
• One third indicated that it had helped a lot
• Just under half indicated that it had helped them a little.
• Nearly 60% of the nationally representative sample agreed that therapy should be more widely available on the NHS
• Only 11% supported patients being offered more medication to manage their problems rather than talking treatment.
“BACP’s survey shows that patients want a holistic approach to mental healthcare and are voting against what they see as its over-medicalisation. They want to discuss the causes of their depression not numb the symptoms. They have inevitably been influenced by the admission that anti-depressants may only work in some 30-50% of people. If hit by despair, the public rightly wants to talk. On the evidence of this survey, a serious majority of the population now believes these conversations should be NHS-funded” - Alan Jamieson, Deputy CEO of The British Association For Counselling And Psychotherapy www.bacp.co.uk
Survey note:
In March 2006 Mintel and YouGov plc were commissioned by BACP to poll a nationally representative sample of 2,032 adults to determine the incidence of depression and anxiety among the general population. A second more detailed investigation was then carried out among those 513 respondents who suffer from depression/anxiety and have a condition severe enough to see their GP or a therapist.