NHS Information Centre (2009), psychiatric morbidity for adults in England: http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/psychiatricmorbidity07Depression and anxiety are the most common mental disorders in Great Britain, is a considerable burden on the welfare of the population and economy. Official figures show that at least 9% of the adult population suffers from anxiety and depression mixed with a further 4.4% had generalized anxiety disorder and 2.3% with Depression1. Fifth estimated working days lost each year due to anxiety and depression.2.
“Learning how to study life has shown that community-based programs for adult learning can be very effective in combating mild to moderate depression, without the fear and stigma so often attached to traditional mental health therapies. In these times of financial difficulties, we hope these approaches more widely considered by mental health commissioners, as part of a more convenient alternative or supplement to the current cost of highly specialized mental health support. ”
Commenting on the implications of research findings for the treatment of mental health problems, Dr. Dan Robotham, senior researcher at the Foundation for Mental Health and lead author of the report Learning for Life, said:
Commenting on the government’s policy towards adults, Simon Lawton-Smith, head of policy at the Mental Health Foundation, said:
“The coalition government has said that adult learning is a necessity rather than luxury, and the conclusions of our report for the learning of life support. However, given the effective reduction of adult safeguarding Coalition Fund Learning and cuts the formula for funding local authorities, local authorities could find themselves under increasing pressure to ax the services of Adult Learning Learning for Life has shown the usefulness of these services in the fight against mental health problems, and given the enormous economic burden and social impact of mental illness around -. 105 billion annually in the United Kingdom at last count – we must be careful that the cuts at the end of these services will cost more in both human and economic terms, that save. ”
Das-Munshi J, Goldberg D, Bebbington PE, Bhugra DK, Brugha TS, Dewey ME et al. (2008) the importance of public health mixture of anxiety and depression: beyond current classification. Br J Psychiatry 192 (3) :171-177. Source