Why is Mental Health First Aid important?

• One in five workers reports their job to be very or extremely stressful.
• One in six workers is likely to experience anxiety, depression or stress-related problems at any one time.
• One in four people experience a diagnosable mental health problem each year.
• Mental health problems are even more common in vulnerable groups, for example the unemployed, homeless people, prisoners, victims of violence and abuse, and refugees, and in people who are experiencing stresses such as financial problems, relationship difficulties, work stress or bereavement.
• Anxiety, stress and depression were responsible for the most UK sick days from 2001-2008, amounting to 70 million days sick each year.
• Self-reported work related stress, depression or anxiety accounted for an estimated 13.5m lost working days in Britain in 2007/08.
• In 2009/10 research by the Sainsbury’s Centre for Mental Health showed that staff experiencing mental ill health and not being supported in their workplace cost UK businesses a total of £30.3 billion – the equivalent to £1206 for every employee in the UK workforce.