A recent survey has shown that about six million people in the UK experience anxiety or depression.
This accounts for about 30% of a GP's workload. These conditions can affect the person's physical health and cause functional impairment. They can also affect their family. Functional impairment usually means that people can't work. The World Health Organization found that 40% of functional impairment worldwide is due to depression and anxiety. Therefore this can affect national and global economies.
Psychological therapies have been shown to improve a patient's mental health and give them skills to manage other physical problems. They are cost effective and are also recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the treatment of patients with anxiety and depression.
For these reasons it is important that primary care teams know about the role of psychological therapies in the management of patients with mental and physical health problems and how they can improve access to such therapies for patients.
