Concerns as new findings suggest half the population of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have suffered ‘significant’ mental health difficulties

From a survey of 510 people living within the counties’ integrated care system taken between August and September 2021, it was revealed 50 per cent of them experienced significant mental health issues that impacted their day-to-day living at least once in their lives.

The research, by data science group Surgo Ventures, also showed 41 per cent met the threshold that warranted further clinical assessment for either depression or anxiety.

And 47 per cent were thought to have experienced depression or anxiety - above the 43.4 per cent UK average.

One of the founders of mental health support system We Are Hummingbird Health, Ian Hurst, said the statistics were ‘high’ but ‘not surprising.’

In his work providing mental health training the 39-year-old said he had his ‘busiest year yet’ last year - reaching more than 1,200 individuals and providing mental health training to 1,149 people.

The dad-of-two from Fareham said: ‘During the pandemic every single person in the world would have experienced poor mental health. Unfortunately people have a poor understanding of the difference between mental health and a mental illness.

‘We all experience mental health but we don’t realise it can be both poor and positive. For example, if someone loses a family member, that period of distress that follows is not mental illness but poor mental health.

‘A mental illness is when somebody has a prolonged period of poor mental health or changes in their dopamine levels.’

Within the survey 21 per cent of people in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight said they did not believe or know that depression and anxiety are mental illness

And of the 50 per cent who said they experienced issues 60 per cent sought care and received it, 17 per cent sought care but did not receive it and 23 per cent did not seek care

‘The problem in this country is we have a real attitude of not sorting a problem like this until it’s already happened,’ Ian said.

‘A lot of our mental health worth is reactive - meaning it’s not until the person has reached breaking point that we do something about it. But you can think of your mental health like a bank and every time something happens that affects you it can be seen as taking a penny away.

‘If you don’t do something to replace that penny, as it were, you end up in an overdraft.

‘We saw a big focus on people’s mental health at the start of the pandemic and we worked with a lot of companies. As things started opening up again and people were back to work there was almost the attitude that “right, everything’s back to normal.”

‘But then a few months later we saw a lot of people struggling as they hadn’t continued to look after their mental health.

‘At We Are Hummingbird we want to help people and check in with them even when their mental health is good rather than when things go wrong.’

Out of 17,000 people surveyed across the UK by Surgo Ventures, 43 per cent met the threshold that warranted further clinical assessment for either depression or anxiety.

And 20 per cent said they would delay or never seek care.

Roger Batterbury, chairman at Healthwatch Portsmouth, commented: ‘It is of great concern that the Covid pandemic has affected so many people in so many ways and that so many local people would now be eligible for statutory mental health services or need treatment for a mental health issue by primary care (their GP).

‘Healthwatch Portsmouth is aware from our work that there has been a rise in the number of people suffering with mental health conditions in the city.’

He also had concerns that a group set up in 2020 has not met this year.

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He added: ‘The Portsmouth Mental Health Alliance was a collaborative group, formed during the pandemic, bringing statutory, voluntary, charities, independent providers and the third sector groups together to focus on the city’s mental health needs. We are very concerned that this group has not yet met this year.

‘The alliance set out with the aim of reviewing the impact of the pandemic on all the services, and to make plans or suggestions so they would be fit for purpose post-pandemic.

‘Given what we know about mental health today in the city, this aim is just as pertinent as ever.

‘Healthwatch Portsmouth has been continuing since the end of last year to contact the chairs of this group to see this essential forum regain its focus and meet once again with a degree of urgency.’

To find out more about We Are Hummingbird visit wearehummingbird.com.

If you are affected by the issues raised, the following organisations may be able to offer help or advice:

Solent Mind: 023 8017 9049 or web chat on solentmind.org.uk.

Samaritans: 116 123 or email [email protected]

The Rethink Mental Illness Advice Line: 0808 801 0525 or via its web chat service at rethink.org/aboutus/what-we-do/advice-and-information-service.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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