Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of cases of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic; and what steps they intend to take in response to any such assessment.
Analysis by the Office for National Statistics shows that between 21 July to 15 August 2021, 17% of adults surveyed experienced some form of depression. This is a decrease since the survey of 27 January to 7 March 2021 at 21% but above pre-pandemic levels of 10%.
For children and young people, NHS Digital report that rates of probable mental disorders, including depression, have increased since 2017. For 6 to 16 year olds rates have increased from 11.6% to 17.4% and in 17 to 19 year olds from 10.1% to 17.4%. Rates in both age groups remained similar between 2020 and 2021.
We have allocated an additional £500 million through the Mental Health Recovery Action Plan for 2021/22, to ensure the right support is in place, including for people with depression. Of this funding, £110 million will be used to expand adult mental health services including psychological therapies and £79 million to significantly expand children’s mental health services. We are also investing an additional £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24 to enable a further two million people to access mental health services.