JSNA – People – Mental Health

Last Updated: May 2024

Mental Health

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Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It is vital to overall health and crucial to personal, community and socio-economic development.

The mental health dashboard gives an overview of mental health in Barnet, with various indicators split into four themes of:

  • Prevalence & Incidence
  • Wellbeing
  • Services
  • Quality and Outcomes

Headline Figures

  • The prevalence of clinically relevant depressive symptoms in adults has been continually increasing since 2013/14 and is currently ay 9%.
  • There are 20.3 ESA claimants for mental disorders per 1,000 population – this is below the London and England averages
  • 2.8% of school pupils have social, emotional and mental health needs
  • Referrals to secondary mental health services have been increasing since 2017/18 and is higher in females.
  • Premature mortality in adults with severe mental illness is 69 per 100,000 – significantly lower than the London and England average.
  • In 2021/22, 39.5% of patients with severe mental illness had a comprehensive care plan – this is significantly lower than the pre-pandemic average of 85.5%.

Narrative

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as “A state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”. [1]

Mental Health is a wide-ranging concept, the Faculty of Public Health and the Mental Health Foundation define mental health as a spectrum “from mental health problems, conditions, illnesses and disorders, through to mental wellbeing or positive mental health.” [2]

Living with mental health issues is not uncommon, nearly 2 in 3 of us will experience a mental health problem during our lives, and 1 in 6 of us is managing fluctuating levels of distress each week. If it’s not you, it’s your colleague, sibling or neighbour. This means that mental health problems commonly affect our lives, our families, workplaces, and communities, impacting everyone. [3]

As most people will have their lives impacted by poor mental health or wellbeing at some point, this may be for a shorter or longer period then we all need to nurture and protect our mental health and develop better resilience which is defined as “a person’s capacity to handle environmental difficulties, demands and high pressure without experiencing negative effects.” [4]

The cost of mental health problems is huge.  The Mental Health Foundation and London School of Economics and Political Science estimate that the total cost to the UK economy (excluding dementia and alcohol and substance misuse) to be £117.9 billion annually. Much of this (72%) is due to the lost productivity of people who are living with mental health conditions as well as costs incurred by unpaid informal carers. [5]

Most mental health problems start early in life. Half of all mental health problems begin by the age of 14, rising to 75% by age 24[6]. Our mental health is shaped by many things our genes, our personal experiences and the social circumstances such as income, poverty, employment, discrimination, education, and community. The foundations of mental health are laid down in infancy in the context of family relationships[7].

Our mental health is a part of a person’s whole health, this it is intrinsically linked with physical health. People with a physical disability or physical health problem are more likely to experience a mental health problem, while people with a mental health problem are more likely to experience a physical health problem[8]. The understanding of the mechanisms and pathways through which mind and body are connected continue to grow but it is known that people with a mental health problem are more likely to have a preventable physical health condition such as heart disease[9].  Further people with severe mental illness such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, die on average 15 to 20 years earlier than those without[10]. Premature mortality for adults with severe mental illness varies by socioeconomic group[11].

Mental health problems are associated with many social factors including higher rates of alcohol and drug abuse, smoking, lower educational outcomes, poorer employment prospects and social disadvantage. These in turn increase risks of mental and physical health problems[12]. Those at greater risk of having poor mental health are often more likely to have difficulties in accessing support.

There is an ever-growing evidence base of what works and what cost effective public health and intersectoral strategies and interventions are available to promote, protect and restore mental health[13].

Mental health in Barnet

Prevalence and incidence: The prevalence of clinically relevant depressive symptoms in adults has increased from 4.9% in 2013/14 to 9.0% in 2021/22. On the other hand, the prevalence of psychotic/bipolar disorder hasnt change significantly and was 1.03% in 2021/22. 2.8% of primary school students and a further 2.9% of secondary school pupils have social, emotional, and mental health needs. The rate of ESA claimants for mental and behavioural disorders has increased from 9.6 per 1000 in 2012 to 19.5 per 1000 in 2015, and it has remained similar since (most recently at 20.3 per 1000 in 2018).

Wellbeing: The percentage of people with a high anxiety score in Barnet hasnt significantly changed  since 2011/12, and is currently 23.5% (2021/22). This is similar to both London and Barnet, as was the percentage of people with low happiness (8.7%), low satisfaction (5.6%), and feelings of low worthwhile (3.8%). 68.7% of social care users aged 65+ in Barnet feel they have control over their daily lives; this has remained stable since 2014/15 and is similar to both London and England. The percentage of population who live in LSOAs which score in the poorest performing 20% on the Access to Healthy Assets and Hazards Index has more than doubled in Barnet from 20.1% in 2016 to 55.3% in 2022. This is now higher than the England average (22.6%) but still lower than London (65.6%).

Services: There has been a significant increase in the rate of attended contacts with community and outpatient mental health services since 2017/18 in Barnet. The rate in Barnet in under 18s (64,400 per 100,000) is significantly higher than both London (51,000 per 100,000) and England (55,100 per 100,000). The rate of new referrals to secondary mental health services is higher in women than in men and has overall increased by almost 40% in between 2017/18 and 2019/20, though this is still below the London and England average. The rate of inpatient stays in secondary mental health services has remained stable since 2017/18. Hospital admissions as a result of self-harm are higher in females (108 per 100,000) than males (33 per 100,000) in Barnet. On the other hand, the average rate for hospital admissions for mental health conditions are higher in men than in women.

Quality and Outcomes: The percentage of patients with severe mental health issues having a comprehensive care plan in adults with severe mental illness has decreased in Barnet across all PCNs since the COVID-19 pandemic. Premature mortality in adults with severe mental illness in Barnet (69 per 100,000) is lower than both the London (103 per 100,000) and England average (104 per 100,000), though the excess under 75 mortality rate in adults with severe mental illness is similar to both the regional and national average at 399% excess risk. The suicide rate in Barnet has been continously declining in Barnet since 2014-16. The most recent rate of 4.8 per 100,000 (2019-21) is similar to the London average and lower than the England average.

You may also be interested in the Suicide and Self-Harm dashboard, please click here.

[1] World Health Organization. Mental health: strengthening our response. 2022 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response.

[2] Faculty of Public Health and Mental Health Foundation. Better Mental Health for All: A Public Health Approach to Mental Health Improvement. 2016 better-mental-health-for-all-final-low-res.pdf (fph.org.uk)

[3] Mental Health Foundation. No Health without Mental Health No health without mental health | Mental Health Foundation.

[4] Kinman and Grant, 2011Exploring Stress Resilience in Trainee Social Workers: The Role of Emotional and Social Competencies on JSTOR

[5] The Mental Health Foundation, The economic case for investing in the prevention of mental health conditions in the UK. 2022 MHF-Investing-in-Prevention-Report-Summary.pdf (mentalhealth.org.uk)

[6] Local Government Association. Children and young people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health – facts and figures. 2022. Children and young people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health – facts and figures | Local Government Association

[7] Mental Health Foundation. Prevention and mental health report. 2019. Prevention and mental health report: Understanding the evidence so that we can address the greatest health challenge of our times | Mental Health Foundation

[8] Mental Health Foundation. Physical health conditions: statistics. People with physical health conditions: statistics | Mental Health Foundation

[9] Physical health and mental health | Mental Health Foundation

[10] Thornicroft G. Premature death among people with mental illness. BMJ, 2013; 346: f2969 Premature death among people with mental illness | The BMJ

[11] Premature mortality in adults with severe mental illness (SMI) Updated 2023 Premature mortality in adults with severe mental illness (SMI) – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

[12] Public Health England. Mental Health and wellbeing JSNA Toolkit. Population Factors 3. 3. Mental health: population factors – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

[13] Mental Health Foundation. The economic case for investing in the prevention of mental health conditions in the UK. 2022. The economic case for investing in the prevention of mental health conditions in the UK | Mental Health Foundation

Further Information

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