Mental health issues cost the UK more than £100 billion each year.
Coping with mental health issues now costs £105.2 billion a year, according to new data.
This includes the cost of social care and lost output throughout the economy as a result of the associated difficulties faced by those accessing specialist services, such as accessing employment.
The calculation by the Centre for Mental Health is nearly £30 billion higher than the estimate produced in 2003 by the organisation.
This underlines the “heavy cost” of mental health problems for those with conditions and their families, according to the centre’s joint chief executive professor Bob Grove.
He explained: “Intervening early with children and young people in distress can have lifelong benefits and offer immediate gains in schools.
“And supporting people with severe or enduring mental health problems to make their own lives better can radically reduce disability and dependence.”
Earlier this year, the centre called for the government to focus on treating the mentally-ill to help reduce crime rates.
In its paper Public Health and Criminal Justice, the organisation highlights that crime and mental health issues often have the same causes, suggesting that focusing on both issues could help towards reducing levels of both.
Barchester nursing