Wellbeing

Are we facing a mental health pandemic?

Categories: Coronavirus, ONS, Wellbeing

Over the past year, much has been written on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of children and adults. The Office for National Statistics has been working to monitor the effect of the last year’s events on people’s personal well-being and mental health. Two new pieces of analysis have been published today, providing early insights into self-reported depression in adults during the early 2021 lockdown, and experimental analysis of the number of depression diagnoses by GPs during the early stages of the pandemic in 2020. Here the authors Tim Vizard and Theo Joloza give the latest picture of what we know about depression and adults during the pandemic so far.

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Looking for explanations of changes in suicide rates

Categories: ONS, Wellbeing

Following several years of decline, the number of suicides registered in England and Wales began to increase in 2018. Whenever a change in suicide rates occur, the reasons are complex and will rarely be because of one factor alone. Here, Ben Windsor-Shellard explains some of the possible explanations.   

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Developing the Health Index for England

Categories: Office for National Statistics, ONS, Public Policy, Wellbeing

In 2018, Dame Sally Davies, then Chief Medical Officer, called for an official index on England’s health. Her aim was to ensure that “health is recognised and treated as one of our nation’s primary assets…alongside GDP and the Measuring National Well-being programme.” As consultation on the proposed index gets under way, Greg Ceely explains the development work ONS has undertaken so far and what the provisional findings show.

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How does living in a more deprived area influence rates of suicide?

Categories: Coronavirus, Data, Office for National Statistics, ONS, Wellbeing

Every year, organisations and communities come together on World Suicide Prevention Day to raise awareness of how we can create a society where fewer people reach the point where they feel suicide is their only option. Ben Windsor-Shellard from the ONS, along with Magdalena Tomaszewska and Mette Isaksen from Samaritans, reflect on the latest suicide figures and analysis of suicide rates by local area deprivation.

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