Statistically, mental illness has consistently affected 1 in 4 people every year for as long as I can remember (I first learned that fact in year 11 at school, which was almost twenty years ago). It would be easy, then, to believe that our collective mental health is about the same as it always was… Until you take a closer look.
The diagnostic criteria required to receiving treatment for common mental illnesses such as self-harm, eating disorders and depression has become ever higher in recent years, as CAHMS struggle to deal with the consequences of austerity cuts. People with eating disorders are dismissed by their GPs, told to ‘come back when they are thinner’; those with depression to return when they are suicidal. In the 1960s the average onset age for depression was 45. Today it is 14.
Anxiety in under-21s is increasing at a dramatic rate, bucking the 1 in 4 trend. Hospitalisations for eating disorders and self-harm have doubled over the past three years, with unexpected deaths among those receiving mental health treatment increasing by 20 per cent over the same time period. For the full article click here
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