The 1 in 4 statistic
1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem in any given year.
This is the most commonly quoted statistic, and the one which has the most research evidence to support it. It came initially from a large scale study published first in 1980, then updated again 1992[i]. This figure is further supported by the results of all three Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Surveys[ii]
The breakdown below gives an overview of what treatment those who experience mental health problems are likely to seek and get:
- Around 300 people out of 1,000 will experience mental health problems every year in Britain
- 230 of these will visit a GP
- 102 of these will be diagnosed as having a mental health problem
- 24 of these will be referred to a specialist psychiatric service
- 6 will become inpatients in psychiatric hospitals.
Depression
- Depression with anxiety is experienced by 9.7 per cent of people in England, and depression without anxiety by 2.6 per cent.
- Women have a higher prevalence of mixed anxiety and depressive disorder than men. The ONS figure for women is 11.8 per cent of the population in England and for men 7.6 per cent.
- Overall, depression occurs in 1 in 10 adults or 10 per cent of the population in Britain at any one time, according to the ONS, closely matching figures from other studies.
- Around 1 in 20 people at any one time experience major or ‘clinical’ depression.
Stress
Life is stressful. What matters is that you recognise when you are under so much stress that it may be harmful.
- Half a million people in the UK experience work-related stress at a level they believe is making them ill.
- Twelve million adults see their GP with mental health problems each year, much of it stress related.
Are you under too much stress?
How your body may react:
breathlessness
feeling sick or dizzy
headaches
constant tiredness
fainting spells
restlessness
chest pains
sleeping problems
tendency to sweat
constipation or diarrhoea
nervous twitches
craving for food
cramps or muscle spasms
indigestion or heartburn
pins and needles
lack of appetite
high blood pressure
sexual difficulties.
How you may feel:
aggressive
depressed
irritable
neglected
fearing you are ill
dreading the future
dreading failure
taking no interest in life
believing you are bad or ugly
lacking interest in others
losing your sense of humour
having no one to confide in.
How you may behave:
difficulty making decisions
inability to show true feelings
problems concentrating
avoiding difficult situations
denying there's a problem
frequently crying.
Learn to relax
Close your eyes and breath slowly and deeply.
Locate any areas of tension and try to relax those muscles; imagine the tension disappearing.
Relax each part of the body, in turn, from your feet to the top of your head.
As you focus on each part of your body, think of warmth, heaviness and relaxation.
After 20 minutes, take some deep breaths and stretch your body.
Ten tips to tackle stress
Make the connection. Could the fact that you're feeling under-the-weather be a response to too much pressure?
Take a regular break. Give yourself a brief break whenever you feel things are getting on top of you - get a soft drink or take a brief stroll.
Learn to relax. Follow a simple routine to relax your muscles and slow your breathing
Get better organised. Make a list of jobs; tackle one task at a time; alternate dull tasks with interesting ones
Sort out your worries. Divide them into those that you can do something about (either now or soon) and those that you can't. There's no point in worrying about things that you can't change.
Change what you can. Look at the problems that can be resolved, and get whatever help is necessary to sort them out. Learn to say 'no'.
Look at your long-term priorities. Step back and examine what it is about your life that's giving you too much stress. What can you off-load, or change? How can you introduce a better balance between work, social life and home life? Is it time to reassess your priorities?
Improve your lifestyle. Find time to eat properly, get plenty of exercise and enough sleep. Avoid drinking and smoking too much. However much you believe they can help you to relax, they'll have the opposite effect.
Confide in someone. Don't keep emotions bottled up.
Focus on the positive aspects of your life.
A great page which has lots of information on stress, what causes it, how to overcome it, ways to deal with it. It is long with lots of information so i have posted the link instead.
Also another great page of information on stress within student life.
No comments:
Post a Comment