Here is our next important point…
Mental health problems are common and normal.
Every seven years a survey is carried out in England to measure the number of people who have different types of mental health problems.
These are statistics from the last survey.
1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in the UK.
In England, 1 in 6 people report experiencing a common mental health problem (such as anxiety and depression) in any given week.
Here are some more statistics from the last survey.
| Generalised anxiety disorder | 5.9 people out of every 100 people |
| Depression | 3.3 people out of every 100 people |
| Phobias | 2.4 people out of every 100 people |
| Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) | 1.3 people out of every 100 people |
| Panic Disorder | 0.6 people out of every 100 people |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | 4.4 people out of every 100 people |
| Mixed anxiety and depression | 7.8 people out of every 100 people |
Stress is a commonly used term.
It refers to the ability of our mind and body to cope with the pressures of life.
Stress motivates us and it is generally a good thing, unless it overwhelms the resources we have for dealing with it.
Flip the images below to see some common signs and symptoms of too much negative stress…
You may have noted that these signs and symptoms can be physical, psychological or emotional.
Not everyone will experience all of these signs and symptoms. Each person will experience a different combination of these signs and symptoms with differing intensity. Anyone going through a period of overwhelming stress will also experience different signs and symptoms at different times.
Some other common mild mental health problems that often coexist with stress.
So far we have looked at mild mental health problems.
How do we decide what is mild, what is moderate and what is severe?
Go through the cards below.....
Think again about Hannah. Her mental health problems are:
- bulletCausing her distress and suffering
- bulletImpacting on her ability to do normal everyday things such as socialising
- bulletImpacting on her ability to respond to challenges, such as losing her job.
So we have looked at mental health problems, but what about mental illness?
When does a mental health problem become an illness?
We have talked about physical illness, how you feel when you are unwell and what you might think is wrong before you see a doctor.
Mental health illness is different.
Mental illness is a severe mental health problem that is diagnosed by a suitably qualified health professional.
This can be a GP, or a Psychiatrist for more complicated mental illnesses.
Do you think Hannah is mentally ill?
In the next lesson, we will learn about the two most common mental health problems and mental illnesses; depression and anxiety. Then we will come back to the answer to this question about Hannah.
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