Mental Illness in Leicester and Evington Part I Common Mental Disorder

Do you ever find yourself struggling with life, do things get you down, do you feel sad more than is normal for any given situation, do you experience panic attacks or have difficulty sleeping or do you know someone experiencing such struggles?

If so, you are not alone, and in this day and age help is often closer than you might think.

Most people are now conscious of mental illness because of press coverage, less stigma and more GP awareness. Some of us will know a relative, friend or neighbour who has a mental illness or has suffered an episode at some time in their lives. Some may also have personal experience of a mental illness themselves.

It is important however to separate out severe mental illness, Schizophrenia, Bi-Polar Disorder and other psychoses from ‘common’ mental disorder (CMD) such as anxiety and depression.

The reason separation is important is because these disorders present differently, have different effects on individuals, their families and the community and have different outcomes.

In this first article, common mental disorder is considered. In the second treatments for common mental disorders is covered. In the third article severe mental illness and its social consequences are examine and in the final article treatment and interventions for severe mental illness is discussed.

Around 1 in 5 adults (20-22%) in England have a common mental health condition (e.g. anxiety, depression) at any given time.

Roughly 1 in 4 adults experience a mental health problem each year, lifetime experience is higher with one in six reporting depression and one in seven reporting experiencing anxiety.

By age groups young adults (16–24), roughly a quarter (25.8%) have a condition and are the highest risk group. Children and adolescents (8-16) make up about one fifth of those with a probable disorder. Women are consistently more affected, making up twenty-four percent and men fifteen percent of those with common mental health disorders.

Prevalence has increased steadily, particularly sharp rises in young people experiencing anxiety disorders (GAD) and depression. Severe symptoms affect just over eleven percent of working-age adults

Over 1 billion people worldwide live with a mental disorder and around 1 in 4 people globally will experience a mental disorder at some point in life. The most common conditions being anxiety disorders and depression. Mental illness is a leading cause of disability worldwide.

In the UK indicators of rising incidence and increasing new diagnoses and self-reported symptoms, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living pressures. There has been a sharp rise in young adults with mental health conditions (17.5% to 25.8% since 2007), self-harm and suicidal ideation have also increased as has people accessing treatment for common mental disorders 23% (2000) to 48% (2023/24). This suggests a higher prevalence of anxiety and depression

For Leicester this means a baseline of around 43,600 working-age adults were estimated to have a common mental health problem (anxiety/depression etc.) in 2020.

That aligns with national data showing roughly 1 in 5 adults (≈20%) in England have a common mental disorder (CMD). So, a reasonable baseline prevalence for any local area is roughly 18–22% of adults.

More specifically Leicester public health mapping shows higher-than-average mental health rates in “North Evington” compared with the city average. This is important as it means Evington is not average, it sits in a cluster of higher-need neighbourhoods (alongside Highfields, Belgrave, etc.).

Local public health work highlights drivers for Evington that correlate strongly with Common Mental Disorder rates, socio-economic deprivation pockets, housing density / HMOs, ethnic health inequalities, long-term conditions and mental health comorbidity.

These factors are unevenly distributed within Evington—North Evington differs significantly from “Evington village”, which is more affluent.

CMD prevalence doesn’t vary hugely by large geography (e.g. wards) overall, but household-level and deprivation factors drive much bigger differences. So, within Evington itself, variation street-by-street can be substantial.

It is normally expected to have around 1 in 5 adults with a common mental disorder as a baseline but in North Evington, it is materially higher than the Leicester average, likely closer to 1 in 4 in some sub-areas.

Sources:

• https://www.leicester.gov.uk/content/beyond-the-lockdowns-lessons-learned-from-leicester-s-covid-story/healthy-minds/
• https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/adult-psychiatric-morbidity-survey/survey-of-mental-health-and-wellbeing-england-2023-24/common-mental-health-conditions
• https://natcen.ac.uk/publications/adult-psychiatric-morbidity-survey-20234
• https://www.stateofmindsport.org/post/adult-psychiatric-morbidity-survey-apms
• https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/eastmidlands/wards/leicester/E05010464__evington