The North in Numbers - Mental health: The hidden pandemic

There’s been a surge in mental health issues across the UK in the wake of the pandemic, with unprecedented demand and huge backlogs putting a massive strain on services.

Dan McLaughlin, 27, is one of the many people across the country who have struggled with their mental health over the last two years.

Speaking to Annie Gouk on the latest episode of The North in Numbers, he said: “The pandemic definitely worsened my symptoms, to the extent that I was hospitalised on a mental health ward.

“It’s something that I thought would never happen. But it happened to a great deal of people over the pandemic.

“We had two pandemics - the coronavirus pandemic and the mental health pandemic. I think the mental health pandemic is going to last far beyond Covid-19.”

Listen to the podcast episode in full here:

In the first year of the pandemic, global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25%, according to the World Health Organisation.

Meanwhile, the number of referrals for specialist NHS mental health care reached a record high in England by the end of 2021.

There were 4.3 million referrals for conditions such as anxiety and depression last year - up from around 3.8 million referrals the previous two years.

Those working in the mental health sector have long been warning about a wave of mental ill health as a result of coronavirus.

Stewart Lucas, of national mental health charity Mind, said: “We are now seeing that wave both in terms of people who are already ill, with an increase in the severity of conditions, and an increase in specific conditions.

“We are in the middle of a mental health surge at the present moment.”

And while people of all ages have seen their mental health affected, the data suggests that