July 6, 2023

expert reaction to trends in psychological distress in adults in England between 2020 and 2022

Trends in psychological distress among adults in England from 2020 to 2022 have been published in JAMA Network Open.

Prof Sir Simon Wessely, Regius Professor of Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neurosciences, King’s College London, said:

“The strength of this study is that it is large, population based, and can look at trends over time.  Overall it suggests that what one might call normal feelings of distress, unhappiness or anxiety that probably do not require or indeed receive professional help have not changed much in recent years.  But there has been a definite increase in more severe levels of distress, some of which may reach what we call “clinical” levels, in which some form of assessment, most likely in primary care, might be indicated. Of particular concern is that this is seen most in young people, confirmed by other studies.  However, I think we should be careful before labelling this another “mental health crisis”, nor assume that this has a single cause or single solution.”

Dr Michael Bloomfield, UKRI Principal Clinical Research Fellow, Translational Psychiatry Research Group Head and Consultant Psychiatrist, UCL, said:

“This study is good quality research using a standard measure of distress in a large sample of over 50,000 people.  As we predicted, this research provides evidence that levels of severe psychological distress have increased during the pandemic years. Whilst we are not able to attribute this directly to any single factor, it is likely that a range of factors are contributing to this. What is particularly concerning is that the high levels of distress where most marked during young adulthood – which is a key period of development – and this may represent elevated risk of subsequent mental health problems. A mentally healthy adult population is in everyone’s interests. Investing in improving mental health pays for itself many times over. The solutions are simple: We need to address the causes of mental ill health and effectively treat people experiencing mental health problems in a timely way to mitigate these risks.”

‘Trends in Psychological Distress Among Adults in England, 2020-2022’ by Sarah E. Jackson et al. was published in JAMA Network Open at 16:00 UK time on Thursday 6^th July.

DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.21959

Declared interests

Prof Sir Simon Wessely: “No declarations of interest.”

Dr Michael Bloomfield: “No declarations of interest.”