People’s attitudes towards mental health and counselling are changing, according to our research which is published for World Mental Health Day.
We surveyed more than 6,000 people to find out about their perceptions of mental health, and counselling and psychotherapy.
We found that 90% of people in the UK think mental health has a higher public profile than five years ago.
83% of people think it’s more socially acceptable to discuss mental health than five years ago, and 69% of people are more aware of mental health issues themselves than five years ago.
Our Public Perceptions Survey, which was conducted by YouGov, also found that 85% of people agree it’s a good idea to seek counselling or psychotherapy for a problem before it gets out of hand.
It found that 85% of people think it’s important counselling or psychotherapy is accessible to everyone who wants it.
73% said people might be happier if they talked to a counsellor or psychotherapist about their problems, and 65% think it’s better for someone to talk about their problems rather than take medication.
We found that 33% have had counselling or psychotherapy in the past, and 76% of those would recommend it to family or friends.
Some of these incredible statistics are included in our infographic. A text-only version of the infographic is also available.
