14 April 2009
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Anxiety disorders rising with 800,000 more sufferers since early nineties
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Over 7 million living with anxiety problems in the UK
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High levels of fear and anxiety also linked to serious physical health problems
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Charity says rising levels of fear and anxiety are contributing to economic problems
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Call for nationwide campaign to protect public’s mental health
A new report from the Mental Health Foundation reveals a UK society that is increasingly fearful and anxious, backing the latest national statistics that show a long term increase in the rate of anxiety disorders in the general population.
The charity says the two trends are linked and that rising levels of fear in the UK are contributing to the current economic crisis and hindering efforts to escape it. The Mental Health Foundation is calling for a nationwide campaign to protect the public’s mental health against anxiety problems.
Fear linked to rising anxiety disorders and poorer health
An Office for National Statistics* report published earlier this year shows that in England alone, the rate of anxiety disorders in the population rose from 13.3 per cent to 15.0 per cent between 1993 and 2007. Applied to the whole UK population this indicates that 7.2 million (1 in 7) people have anxiety disorders in the UK - 800,000 more than in the early nineties.
UK-wide research carried out for In the Face of Fear shows that more than a third of people (37 per cent) feel more frightened than they used to and a majority think the world has become more frightening in the last 10 years (77 per cent).
According to the Mental Health Foundation, the more fearful people feel in the general population, the more people will be tipped over into diagnosable anxiety problems.
The report reveals that high levels of fear and anxiety are strongly linked to depression as well as a range of physical health problems including coronary heart disease, gastrointestinal troubles, asthma and allergies. People with anxiety problems are four times as likely to develop high blood pressure, and studies show a link between anxiety and weakness of the immune system. Anxiety is also associated with unhealthy lifestyle choices such as smoking, drinking too much alcohol and poor diet.
Fear and modern life
Fear is an emotion that is recognised faster than conscious thought by the brain, and triggers the ‘fight or flight’ response.
In the Face of Fear explains that historically this enabled people to face immediate threats to their safety as hunter gatherers. But in modern life it causes people problems because abstract or unpredictable concerns such as terrorism or economic problems demand more considered responses. People still have the same strong physical and mental responses, yet cannot fight or flee from current threats.
According to the charity, a ‘culture of fear’ is one of the reasons for increasing levels of anxiety. A constant news stream, widely available information about threats, and ‘worst case scenario’ language sometimes used by politicians, pressure groups, businesses and public bodies around issues such as knife-crime, MRSA, bird flu and terrorism can fuel the problem. The charity says that public bodies and businesses should take steps to tackle institutionally-driven fear.
The introduction of public policy measures such as the installation of CCTV cameras to tackle fear of crime can also be counter-productive. The UK now has 4.2 million, more than in the rest of Europe put together. Such devices can actually make some people feel more fearful, as they sense that high security suggests risk. Fear of crime continues to rise even though crime rates have fallen in the last decade.
A poll for In the Face of Fear reveals a number of reasons why people say they feel more frightened or anxious than they used to, including a loss of solidarity and community, the world becoming a more dangerous place, the threat of terrorism, the risk of crime, a loss of certainty and security, and because of an increase in the availability of information about threats to their safety.
Fear and the economy
The current financial crisis is having an adverse effect on the nation’s wellbeing – two-thirds of those polled for the report (66 per cent) said they are experiencing some fear and anxiety as a result. Anxiety UK, the country’s largest anxiety disorders charity, reported a doubling of calls to its telephone helpline in the first two months of this year.
The Mental Health Foundation says that fear is partly driving the economic crisis because the emotion is over-riding logical thinking. Individuals and institutions - keen to protect themselves - are now too afraid to lend, spend and invest, despite the fact that these actions could assist in ending the recession. Franklin D Roosevelt knew of the major impact of fear on the economy when he gave his inaugural address in the midst of economic crisis in 1933, declaring ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself’.
Some social groups particularly vulnerable to anxiety
Those with anxiety-related disorders are more likely to be single, divorced or separated, earning less money, poorly educated, living in urban areas, living on their own or as a lone parent. The report highlights that four times as many people are living alone than 50 years ago – and consequently they are being forced to cope with wider social and economic problems on their own.
Too few seek help for treatable anxiety problems
Another contribution to rising levels of anxiety is that people do not seek help from their GP when it becomes problematic, or do not realise that they have a problem, according to the charity. While anxiety problems are usually treatable, they are massively under-treated, placing unnecessary suffering on individuals and families. Only 1 in 7 people with mixed anxiety and depression - the most common mental health disorder - are currently receiving treatment.
Call for nationwide mental health awareness campaign
The charity is calling for attention to be paid to the general population’s mental health, and asserts that a campaign is needed to raise awareness about how people can better understand their emotions and protect themselves against anxiety and depression.
Dr Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said:
“This report shows that fear is having a serious negative impact on the mental and physical health of the nation. The modern world will test our resilience again and again, and people need to know how to process their emotions better to prevent harm to their mental and physical health. A mental health promotion campaign that shows individuals how to look after their own mental health would be of immense public benefit, and help prevent common mental health problems like anxiety and depression.
“Prevention campaigns about physical illnesses like heart disease and cancer are often mounted but we have seen little investment in educating people about how they can look after their mental health. Currently less than 0.1% of adult mental health investment is allocated to mental health promotion. The UK needs to follow the example of countries like Australia that take the mental health of their whole populations seriously and invest in promotion more readily.”
The Mental Health Foundation has helpful information about fear and anxiety, including a podcast and booklet, on its website – visit www.mentalhealth.org.uk/fear
Comments
Minister for Care Services, Department of Health, Phil Hope, said:
"This report confirms just how important it is to tackle mental health problems and promote public mental health and wellbeing. During the last ten years, we've seen major improvements in the mental health services available for people, but now we need to develop a dynamic new approach, which actively helps create more mentally healthy and resilient communities. We're developing a strategy called New Horizons to be published in summer to do that. This report gives us some valuable ideas on how to get there."
Nicky Lidbetter, Chief Executive of ANXIETY UK, said:
"This report illustrates, more than ever before, the need for good quality support for people struggling with anxiety. At Anxiety UK, we have experienced an unprecedented number of enquiries since the beginning of the year from people seeking help, largely due to the economic crisis and its knock on effects on people's mental health. We offer advice, a peer support network and therapies at a reduced cost to people across the UK both over the telephone and face-to-face."
Carolyn Chew-Graham, Royal College of GPs Clinical Champion (Mental Health), and co-chair of Primary Care Mental Health Forum, said:
“This report highlights fear and anxiety as increasing problems and describes possible causes. While there have been campaigns to increase public and health professional awareness about depression, much less has been done to raise awareness of anxiety.
“The Royal College of GPs would be supportive of a campaign that shows individuals how to look after their own mental health and explains that fear and anxiety can be experienced in the course of day-to-day living. But the campaign would need to be accompanied by the development of community and health service resources to enable professionals to meet the needs of those people who seek help for anxiety related problems.”
“Intense emotional stress has long been associated with triggering heart attacks in people who already have coronary heart disease. The British Heart Foundation is currently funding research to further understand the mechanisms of how this may happen. Feeling very stressed often leads to unhealthy behaviours such as smoking, eating a poor diet, drinking too much alcohol and not getting enough exercise – adding to the risk of developing heart problems. Identifying the circumstances that lead people to adopting unhealthy lifestyles and choosing options such as physical activity to help relieve stress can reduce the risk of developing heart disease.”
Paul Corry, Director of Public Affairs at Rethink said:
“Fear is one of the drivers for a number of mental illnesses. People who already have a diagnosed mental illness often find that fearful times and events have a serious effect on their symptoms and daily lives. We welcome the need to take a public mental health approach to tackling fear and anxiety. A well-thought out strategy for promoting everyone’s mental health is long overdue, and it must include those with severe and enduring mental illness.”
REPORT KEY FINDINGS**
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37% of people (equivalent to 18 million UK adults) say they get frightened or anxious more often than they used to.
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77% of people believe people in general are more frightened and anxious than they used to be.
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77% say that the world has become a more frightening place in the last 10 years.
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29% say that fear and anxiety have stopped them from doing things they wish they had done.
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49% of people get anxious about money, with 66% experiencing some degree of fear or anxiety about the current financial situation.
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Women consistently report experiencing more fear and anxiety than men. They are more than twice as likely as men to say they feel frightened or anxious a lot of the time (11%, compared to 5% of men). They are also more likely to report increasing fear (43% compared to 30% of men). And 20% of women compared with 14% of men say they wish they could be less fearful or anxious in their everyday life.
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Younger people also consistently report greater fear than older people. 77% of 18-34 year-olds say they feel frightened or anxious at least some of the time, compared to 65% of over 55s, and more than twice as many in the younger age group would describe themselves as a ‘generally anxious or fearful person’ (13% compared to 6%).
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66% of those who say people are more frightened or anxious than they used to be say it is because of the current economic situation, 61% say because of a loss of solidarity and community, 60% say because the media makes people frightened, 60% say because the world has become a more dangerous place, 60% say because of fear of terrorism, 59% say because of the risk of crime, 54% say because of a loss of certainty and security, and 54% say because of an increase in the availability of information about threats to safety.
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14% of Londoners are likely to feel anxious a lot of the time compared to 8% nationally.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Further resources are available from our media centre, including information about spokespeople, downloads of In the Face of Fear and executive summary, campaign image and downloadable audio clips from our Campaigns Director, Celia Richardson.
To get access to the Media Centre, please contact the press team on 020 7803 1130 or press@mhf.org.uk for the username and password.
Requests for media interviews should be directed to the Mental Health Foundation press office team on 020 7803 1130 / 1128 or email sloveland@mhf.org.uk / fgorman@mhf.org.uk (out of hours 07967 586489 )
The In the Face of Fear report is being released as part of Mental Health Action Week (12th – 18th April, 2009), during which the Mental Health Foundation aims to raise awareness about a particular issue that has relevance to everyone’s mental health, and has been hitherto under-explored.
Past Mental Health Action Week campaigns have successfully raised awareness and discussion around issues such as problem anger, exercise and depression, and alcohol and mental health.
* The Office for National Statistics published Household Psychiatric Morbidity surveys for 1993, 2000 and 2007. The latter was published in February 2009 and is the most up to date source of information on the prevalence of mental health problems, including anxiety disorders. The Government surveys have found that women experience more symptoms of anxiety than men – the 2000 survey found that they are more likely to experience sleep problems, worry, obsessions, phobias, and compulsions, and the 2007 survey found that women are considerably more likely to experience anxiety disorders than men and that women’s mental health in general may be deteriorating. There has been an increase in common mental disorders from 19.1% of women in 1993 to 21.5% in 2007.
** Opinium Research carried out an online poll of 2,246 British adults for the Mental Health Foundation from 5 January to 8 January 2009.
The Mental Health Foundationuses research and practical projects to help people survive, recover from and prevent mental health problems. We work to influence policy, including government at the highest levels. And we use our knowledge to raise awareness and to help tackle the stigma attached to mental illness. We reach millions of people every year through our media work, information booklets and online services.
Registered Charity No: (England & Wales) 801130: (Scotland) SC 039714.
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