Key facts and figures relate to Scotland unless otherwise indicated. For further information refer to sources at the bottom of the page.
About Mental Health Problems
Just over one in four (28%) people will experience a mental health problem at some point in our lives.[1]
Nearly two thirds (61%) of the population know someone close to them who has experience of mental ill-health [2]
Up to two thirds of people will recover from long term mental health problems[3]
The most commonly experienced mental health problems are depression, panic attacks, severe stress and anxiety disorder.[4]
People in the highest and lowest income groups are more likely to have experienced mental ill-health than people in middle income groups. People in rural areas are more likely than people in urban areas to experience mental ill-health. [5]
The incidence of depression and anxiety is higher among women than men, while rates for schizophrenia are higher among men than women[6]
There are risk factors which can increase the likelihood of mental health problems, and these are: negative life events (relationship breakdown, disability, long-term illness); social isolation and exclusion; deprivation and inequality[7]
There are also things that people can experience which protect their mental health, such as: having social support/networks/people to talk to; having opportunities for activities which enhance well-being such as creative, physical or spiritual activities; financial security; being more in control of life events and their impact; feeling safe.[8]
About Stigma
In a recent Scottish Executive survey, 41% of all respondents said that they would not want anybody to know if they developed a mental health problem. [9] This figure had dropped from 51% in 2002.
86% of people with experience of mental ill-health have told someone they know about their mental health problems. The majority had told friends and family, their boss or work colleagues.[10]
Those diagnoses most likely to attract stigma are personality disorder, eating disorder, self-harm, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)[11]
The most common situations where people with lived-experience have had to face stigma and discrimination are: by friends and family; in employment/at work; within the local community; within mental health or other health services.[12] These are also the situations where people are most likely to have disclosed their mental health problems.
Recovery from mental ill-health is helped by support from family members and friends.[13]
The percentage of the public who think that ‘people with mental health problems are often dangerous’ has fallen from 32% in 2002 to 16% in 2006. There are still public concerns about links between mental ill-health and public protection[14] . It is ‘see me’s belief that these concerns are strongly related to negative media coverage.
[12] Ibid. p25