Mental health conditions: Prevalence, impacts and government action

Approximate read time: 10 minutes

The House of Lords is scheduled to consider the following question for short debate on 15 June 2026:

Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative) to ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the change in number of diagnoses of mental health conditions in each of the last five years.

1. Prevalence of mental health conditions

In December 2025, the government commissioned an independent review to look at rising demand for mental health, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism services.^[1] This followed evidence in Lord Darzi’s 2024 independent investigation into the NHS, which found a “surge” in mental health needs, particularly among children and young people, alongside significant waiting lists for referral and treatment. It said:

By April 2024, about 1 million people were waiting for mental health services.

Long waits have become normalised: there were 345,000 referrals where people are waiting more than a year for first contact with mental health services […] and 109,000 of those were for children and young people under the age of 18.^[2]

On 31 March 2026, an interim report was published by the independent review into mental health conditions, autism and ADHD.^[3] The review found that diagnosis rates of several common mental health conditions—principally depression and anxiety—have increased over the past three decades, with the clearest changes observed among younger adults. The NHS uses the definition of ‘common mental health conditions’ to refer to different types of depression and anxiety disorder which cause marked emotional distress and interfere with daily function, but do not usually affect insight or cognition.^[4] The NHS states common mental health conditions are usually less disabling than major psychiatric disorders.

The NHS England ‘Adult psychiatric morbidity survey’ (APMS) suggests that the prevalence of these conditions among adults in England rose from around 15 to 16% in the early 1990s to around 23% by the mid-2020s.^[5]

The report noted the rise in psychological distress for younger people is a “significant shifting of previous age-based patterns”.^[6]

Figure 1. Prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders by age group in England: 1993–2024

The interim report also highlighted continuing concerns about under-recognition of mental health conditions and unmet need among older adults, particularly where difficulties might be normalised and people may be less likely to seek help or diagnosis.^[7]

For children, the review found a continuing increase in reported symptoms, based on the UK household longitudinal study, a multi-topic household survey conducted by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex.^[8]

Prevalence of common mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety is higher in women than men (24.2% to 15.4%) and higher in more deprived areas (26.2% for the most deprived fifth of areas to 16% in the least deprived fifth), and for people with life-limiting physical health conditions (32.9% to 12.6%).^[9] There are also regional disparities, with people in the North East (24.6%) and East Midlands (24.6%) more likely to suffer from such mental health conditions than those in the South East (16.3%) and South West (18.7%).

The independent review is also considering the evidence on rarer mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The interim report concluded diagnoses for these had been relatively stable over time. However, evidence on prevalence of eating disorders did indicate an increase.^[10]

2. Potential contributing factors

Research into potential causes of increased mental health diagnoses points to a range of possible contributing factors, including the following:^[11]

• cost of living challenges and financial insecurity
• housing costs
• precarious employment
• social media and smartphone use
• support service availability, including children and youth services, and services not being situated in the areas of greatest need
• changing lifestyle factors, including trends towards worse sleep quality
• increased public awareness of mental health conditions
• reduced stigma leading to increases in seeking diagnosis

While the Covid-19 pandemic has been associated with mental health challenges, NHS data and research from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities noted the upwards trend, particularly among young people, had begun in the preceding decade.^[12]

3. Impact of mental health conditions

The interim report of the review into mental health conditions, ADHD and autism said that, of people with common mental health conditions, more were reporting experiencing high levels of distress and more were struggling to participate in day-to-day activities.^[13] The report said that this, particularly in young people, is linked to:

• education disruption and school absence
• disengagement from work and training
• high rates of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET)

The government has also commissioned a review of young people and work, led by Alan Milburn. An interim report was published on 28 May 2026.^[14] It found there were economic consequences of the increased incidence of mental health conditions:

Over the past decade, the proportion who say they are NEET due to a work-limiting health condition has increased by 70%. The proportion of disabled NEETs citing mental health as their primary condition has almost doubled to more than four in ten.

The report said this was “impeding economic growth and causing a contraction in the supply of labour” and argued that current NHS and welfare systems were not enabling participation or re-entry to the labour market.

4. Government action on mental health

The government’s ‘10 year health plan’ included commitments for mental health services to be “transformed”, with a focus on narrowing mental health inequalities.^[15] The plan said the government would:

• increase capacity for urgent mental health care by developing dedicated mental health emergency departments
• use the NHS app to enable more self-referral to assistance such as talking therapies
• roll out mental health support teams in schools and colleges, to reach full national coverage by 2029 to 2030
• increase the number of mental health services’ staff
• publish a new ‘National youth strategy’

The ‘National youth strategy’ was published in December 2025.^[16] Actions included:

• expanding mental health and wellbeing training for adults who support young people
• ensuring access to advice and support in ‘Young futures hubs’
• reducing waiting times for community mental health services; and improving access to sports and green spaces

In addition to the reviews mentioned above, in May 2026 the government launched a consultation ahead of producing a new mental health strategy.^[17] The government said the “once-in-a-generation cross-government strategy” would:

[…] drive a fundamental shift towards prevention—treating people earlier and faster, and supporting those with mental health conditions to live a full life and stay active in education, work, family life and their communities.^[18]

In its May 2026 announcement, the government said it had hit its target of 8,500 extra mental health workers. It added that it was:

[…] making £473 million available over the next four years for mental health emergency departments, community-based mental health centres and wider capital projects accelerating the rollout of mental health support teams in schools and colleges and expanding community‑based support via early support and young futures hubs.^[19]

5. Read more

• House of Commons Library, ‘Mental health awareness week 2026’, 7 May 2026
• British Medical Association, ‘Mental health pressures in England’, 13 May 2026
• House of Lords, ‘Written question: Mental health services (HL13184)’, 30 January 2026; and ‘Written question: Mental health: Diagnosis (HL13926)’, 30 January 2026
• Mind, ‘Mental health facts and statistics’, September 2025
• Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, ‘Mental health: Prevention and resilience’, 14 April 2025

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