Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information (a) her Department and (b) the NHS has collected on (i) interventions, (ii) strategies and (iii) policies that are successful at reducing levels of (A) depression, (B) bad nerves and (C) anxiety in the working age population.

Considerable progress has been made in developing effective psychological therapies for these conditions. This progress has been recognised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) which now recommends psychological therapies as first choice interventions for depression and anxiety disorders, including bad nerves. Individuals who are seen within NHS Talking Therapies services can expect to receive a course of NICE-recommended psychological therapy from an appropriately trained individual. Services are delivered using a stepped-care model, which works according to the principle that people should be offered the least intrusive intervention appropriate for their needs first.

In 2021/22, over 1.2 million people were able to access NHS Talking Therapies services. This expansion was the result of training and deploying thousands of new psychological therapists and practitioners, as well as providing additional training modules for existing therapists. The recovery rate was 50% in 2021/22. The 2023 Autumn Statement invested further in NHS Talking Therapies. This will increase the number of sessions per course of Talking Therapies treatment to tackle the root causes of common mental health conditions like anxiety and depression and broaden access, leading to an expected additional 384,000 people completing a course of treatment by 2028/29.

There is an extensive literature showing that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and NHS Talking Therapies more widely have significant positive and durable health impacts, including for those of working age specifically. A University of Sheffield study highlighted a large post-treatment effect in depression and anxiety measures in the United Kingdom.

Another UK study by Professor David Clark found that around 50% of patients treated in NHS Talking Therapies services recover, and two-thirds show worthwhile benefits.