Introduction

According to the Mental Health Foundation (www.mentalhealth.org.uk) mental health problems are found in people of all ages, regions, countries and societies:

Statistics on mental health

• 1 in 4 people will experience some kind of mental health problem in the course of a year
• Mixed anxiety and depression is the most common mental disorder in Britain
• Women are more likely to have been treated for mental health problems than men
• About 10% of children have a mental health problem at any one time
• Depression effects 1 in 5 older people living in the community and 2 in 5 living in care homes
• British men are three times as likely as British women to die by suicide
• The UK has one of the highest rates of self harm in Europe at 400 per 100,000 population
• Only 1 in 10 prisoners has no mental disorder

In view of these statistics, there is a changing attitude towards mental health issues. Mental wellbeing is seen to be distinct from mental illness, people with or without diagnosed mental illness can have either good or poor mental health or be somewhere on that continuum.