One quarter of patients unable to access mental health services during lockdown, suggests survey

A quarter of people who sought help for mental health problems during lockdown were unable to access NHS services, a new survey shows.

A survey by the mental health charity Mind found that 25% of respondents who contacted primary care services could not get support.

More than a fifth (22%) of adults with no previous experience of poor mental health now say that their mental health has deteriorated, according to the survey.

Many people who were previously well will develop mental health problems as a “direct consequence of the pandemic and all that follows”, according to Mind.

Two out of three (65%) adults aged 25 and over and three-quarters of young people aged 13-24 with an existing mental health problem reported worse mental health during the lockdown.

Mind predicts that prolonged worsening of wellbeing and “continued inadequate access” to NHS mental health services will lead to a marked increase in people experiencing longer-term mental health problems.

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Source: The Independent, 30 June 2020